


Begetter of a denounment, Denounment of a Begetter

by Blueflamember



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Underfell (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Underswap (Undertale), Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst?, Blood and Gore, Breaking the Fourth Wall, Burn baby burnn, Character Death, Depression, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Relationships, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, HARD, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Multi, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Reader Is Not Chara (Undertale), Reader Is Not Frisk (Undertale), Reader-Interactive, Slow Build, Slow Burn, THE BURN AND ANGST WILL HURT YOU, The Author Regrets Nothing, imma give out smth tho, so no spoilers ;), we gonna be slowly adding tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:28:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24218143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blueflamember/pseuds/Blueflamember
Summary: Dulcet their voice was-a continuity that reminds him that time is extremely different than those previous before. Their whispers, amusement laced with excitement under their breath... sometimes he thinks, that maybe it's just his head? That everything was just his mind playing games-or it's just him, a coping mechanism for his sinking insanity. No matter, he finds this voice much more pleasant and easy to deal with rather than the child that created this mess in the first place.And then just like that, that siren of a voice disappears along with the Barrier. Without a warning, without an utterance of goodbye. Merely a whisp of something that was there before......no no No NO NO.He wants it back. He takes it back. He wants to take that voice back. He wants it. He wants that sweet sweetsweetsweetsweetsweet constant reminder that the nightmare is gone.gone. gone.gonegonegonegone goNE. GONE.Because of that stupid, stupid child...child? no, they were dirty, dirty, a dirtydirtydirty murder.And he's going to do everything to bring that voice back. Even if it kills him and the universe around him to collapse.He will bring his siren back.
Relationships: Sans (Undertale)/Reader
Comments: 57
Kudos: 58





	1. Yippee ki eh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, okay, hear me out.  
> I want to try this interactive reader fanfic out. I'm not sure where this will go but I have some things planned out here and there.  
> It's just experimental really.  
> But uh, come try this out with me?

_Twist._

The sound of meat ~~flesh~~ churns together. ~~  
~~

_Turn._

A wet slosh of bubbles gurgle and inflate, popping as air and exposed bones clashed together like molten lava. ~~  
~~

_Giggle._

_squelch_

A breath in, a breath out, and Sans looks dead straight into the blank sockets of red. Those red, red, _red_ glistening eyes bored down on him as he did to them. No, calling them a ..'them' doesn't feel right. 'It'..yes, 'it' would be better. Something like it, should be rewarded with a title well suited for such disgusting, disgusting individual.

Sans wheezed out and did a quick flick of his wrist as best as he could, impaling his opponent with another pile of sharpened bones. They went through with ease, crunching and breaking skin from the front and to the back, like a vice grip of a dog's maw. But that didn't deter the being much, instead, it seemed even more eager for the pain, slinking further into the rough white bones and tearing through tendons and veins. It raised its dust and blood-stained knife and plunged into Sans' femur, breaking and digging deep. Sans gasped in horrid pain as the being twisted and poked further in, seeming to enjoy his deliciously pained expression.

Red orbs of determination and blood splattered around the two of them, staining the once beautiful sun-kissed pillars and marble floors with death and desperation. A once strong stand-off between two powerful individuals was now a struggle of dominance on the ground. With all cards shown and played, it was now a brain and brawl situation where whoever lasts and resists the longest wins. Unfortunately, that means that as an already physically weak individual, Sans was at a disadvantage the moment his trump card had failed. He was now helplessly pinned and staddled to death, literally and physically. Perhaps in a different timeline, Sans would've been flattered at the attention the kid was giving him but this was not that child. It was something else.

He wasn't going to keel over and dust obediently without trying to drag the son of a bitch together with him into the afterlife either. As much as he was sick and tired of the countless genocide timelines he had to relive over and over again-hell, even remembering them, he always couldn't help this sick gratification when it came to battling them to the death. Was it the adrenaline? The pain that _thing_ had given him, that made him want to hurt, hurt, _hurthurthurthurt_ \- ~~perhaps it's just his sanity leaving him.~~

Was he ashamed of himself for feeling this way?

Maybe a little. He knows that his brother, Papyrus, would've been disappointed ~~not that he knew what was happening in the first place. so how could he have the gal to be mad at him? he's dead anyway so it doesn't make a difference~~ so maybe he should act accordingly.

Another giggle got Sans's attention as he fends off another plunged of sharp metal with a summoned boned, barely missing the upper sternum of his exposed ribcage, where his SOUL currently resides. He grits his teeth tightly together and cussed under his breath, sweat forming on his already drenched skull from the exhaustion post-standoff.

If there's one thing he's learnt and executed successfully was to endlessly piss whatever this monstrosity was. Be it making subtle taunts like tripping it during Undyne, The Undying's fight, changing his fight tactic once and switching back to normal once it has died and load once more, to just plain ol' killing it on the spot out of the Ruins if he was bored enough. ~~He did pick up one or two brawling skills with that one lucky break on the surface, as well as a few dirty tricks after wrestling it down multiple times but he ain't gonna acknowledge that.~~ Maybe he shouldn't have gotten so cocky with the taunting this time round and _not_ wear a shirt, oops.

Sans grunts and tried to throw the monster off-balance with a magic-induced slam with his other free hand but its reflex was as quick, summoning itself a large metal pan from its dimensional box to defend its flank whilst continuing its endless stare into his skull. A loud pang rang throughout the hallway, echoing his failed attempt to end his death straddle. Sans groans in frustration and let his smile pull down a little, throbbing skeleton hand falling back and repositioned to fend off the stupid knife still aiming for his SOUL. He gave it the stink eye, to which it brightened even more and leaned closer into his skull, mockingly.

...Sometimes Sans speculate that _that_ was the reason it kept on coming back and he was just ebbing them further the more he changed the constant repetitive song and dance. Could anyone really blame him though? He was getting real tired of the little shit's bullshit too. Sometimes Sans really wanted to deliberately be disgusting just to peeve it and distract it from some of their fights from time to time. He could think lots of ways to do so too. After all, there's no shame and honour to playing dirty when it really came to fighting life or death (this isn't some Sparta shit).

And with how boned he was, pinned against the floor like predator and prey, Sans thinks that he should.

So he did.

Conjuring whatever magic he had left into his mouth, he gave his straddler a sly look, sauntering his burning blue eye into two white pinpricks as he gave it a once over, letting a lazy relax grin stretch against his skull. Red orbs blink and tilt, pausing its persuade for murder to watch Sans curiously. Its' lips curve into a thin line for a split moment, as if calculating before turning into a full-blown maniac smile, excited to see what Sans had installed for it. It bounced a little on the spot, ignoring how the penetrated bones would rub against the raw and exposed flesh in favour of anticipation. Sans internally grimaced at the blood slowly dripping down the browning bones.

_god what a freak._

Suppressing his disgust deep down into his SOUL, Sans kept up his act and slowly unhinged his jaw, letting his canine teeth unfused to reveal the black pit from within. And just like an irresistible abyss, it drew the one staring at it closer, and closer. The glistening reds of those bloody eyes glowed against Sans' skull, softly illuminating the drop shadow its brown hair had created from its eager lean. Sans waited until it was fully ruptured by the insides of his mouth, like a moth to a flame before quickly forming his blue tongue and shooting it up and around the being's neck, squeezing. He was rewarded with a surprised choke as hands flew up to claw at the wet and slippery tongue, never really succeeding in pulling it off due to the lack of friction.

Sans's satisfaction was short-lived however, when the nasty thing started to giggle and giggle, turning into full-blown manic laughter despite its throat clearly creaking from the strain on its vertebrae. Its warp voice came tumbling out in breathy pants, probably unaccustomed from being used for a long time.

"Sans, oh Sans! You ever cease to amaze me, do you?! Ahh, I can't get over how smart and hyperaware you are... God, I could just keep on playing with you and never go bored!"

Sans physically shuddered and grimaced.

_oh god, it really is a freak._

It grinned and took Sans' slight distraction as an opportunity and swung its blade down _hard_ onto his ribcage, busting them into two and fatally damaging his SOUL. Sans' teeth immediately snap shut, tongue disappearing into thin air from the loss of concentration as he screams out, unable to control his reaction from the pain directly emitting from his SOUL. The 'child' straddling him sigh in content and stood up, not even wincing as it tore the bones out of its body with little to no hard attempts and popped a slice of butterscotch and cinnamon pie into its mouth. Sans cussed as he watches its wounds healed up effectively, leaving no scars and bruises on its skin, especially around its neck. For once in his aeon of timeline jumping, he cussed out Toriel's damn good cooking abilities.

"Man, that was real fun this time round," It giggled, hopping over Sans' dusting body before turning and innocently tilting its head to the side, smile a little too wide for a child's face. "Maybe I should give you a pacifist run as a reward for entertaining me or something. Who knows?"

Sans' vision started to spot, its laughter pounding heavily against his skull and hallway. He closed his eyes huff out an airy breath.

"fuck.. fuck you too, kid."

Laughter bounced around once more, quiet thuds of footsteps echoing further and further away from Sans' fallen body. With the last ounce fo strength he had, he lifted one of his hand and proceeded to flip it the bird, unbothered whether it had seen it or it'll come to bite him in his boney ass in the next timeline before everything went entirely black.

* * *

_Pitter-patter_

The sounds of echos and whispers.

_Pitter-patter_

A quiet giggle or two, maybe even three, mixed with secrets and deals.

_Pitter-patter_

The sound of rain drizzle and drops, a crown up top a throne with no crone.

_Repeat  
_Once said,

 _Reset  
_Another bellowed,

 _Proceed  
_The last purred.

An utter of pause before the flog, a trade of entertainment between a three-way vend.

One left sceptical, another unsatisfied but intrigued, the last thrilled and ready. A pact has been made, sealed and forevermore ratified.

The world swallowed and churned, the empty underground rumbled and groaned, time has left scattered and strained, and rolled over a groan with sparks of molten heat and recur. Once again, everything and everyone is on another repetition but much, much, earlier than it once was.

.

..

...

..Oh hey there, didn't see everyone there.

Don't you think it's a little rude to be eavesdropping on someone? Go back to Sans, he'll sure need all those invisible comfort that he can get from everyone. Knock yourself out but don't get too ahead of yourself though, I'll be watching.

...

..Haha.

Don't worry though, I'll see all of you real soon.

* * *

The next thing Sans knew, he was groggily waking up to an unsettling soft humming echoing within his head, a bundle of fur and red snuggled tightly against his chest and within in arms in familiar yet unfamiliar snow terrain. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sans: will you be the yee to my haw?  
> kid:  
> Sans:  
> kid:  
> Sans:  
> kid: *proceed to straddle Sans  
> Sans: no wait i was just joking-


	2. The FitnessGram Pacer Test is a multistage aerobic capacity test that progressively gets more difficult as it continues. The 20 meter pacer test will begin in 30 seconds. Line up at the start. The running speed starts slowly but gets faster each minute-

Snow fell softly against the dark cavern of the underground. Some drifted down faster than others, while others magically evaporate mid-fall, unable to finish its journey down and under. A small whisp of a snowflake bravely booped the small drowsy skeleton on the nasal bone, making him blearily blink and stare back up into the covered sky. There was no sun-kissed amber erupting like flowers, no howling of unforgiving winds, just cold, cold _cold_. Sans was...dazed, and arguably confused as hell. It was normal-at least for him that is-to feel annoyingly disorientated whenever a reset had occurred, even more so if he had time to 'sleep' because of his unfortunate death record with the anomaly. But he hadn't had an experience like _this_ before.

It was a standard procedure that Sans was forced to get used to; lose his brother, lay down, try not to cry, cry a lot, fight, die, wake up again--rinse and repeat. Everything would stay the same unless either the kid or him, decided to switch things up a notch compared to the previous timelines. The kid's actions had a stronger ripple effect than him though but that's beside the point right now. He'd always wake from the dead in his own bed, hearing his brother constant shout from the kitchen to get his lazy ass out and bout for patrol... but that wasn't happening this time around, or any time soon it seems. He was _not_ in his messily depressed excuse of a room and _not_ hearing a loud shout for him either. Rather, quiet 'nyeh's came tumbling out from the soft fabric Sans was holding tightly within his arms. He could feel the small rise and fall of a chest against his own smaller clothed ribcage.

..Wait, smaller?

Shaking his head a little to clear the remaining haze from his head, Sans carefully shifted the bundle in his arms and lifted one of his hands to observe any changes, along with his clothes, shoes and legs. His clothes were still all the same, if not a lot less worn out and bigger than he was used to. The rest was...small. Small skeletal hands stared back at Sans as he repeatedly clasped and unclasped several times, along with standing up from the snow to his full height to check his peripheral vision. Even his magic capacity seemed normal, albeit a smaller pool. Nevertheless, nothing was amidst. Everything was fairly normal, except shrinking like fucking dried plums of course. 

Sans let his hand fall back down to readjust his hold on the bundle of red and fur much more comfortably, his perma-smile tugging down into a frown at the smallest shift within his arm, Another soft 'nyeh' came cooing at him before settling down once more into the fur line of the warm fabric, their breath deepening into a gentle slumber.

...Sans was almost too scared to fully peer down at the mini breathing burrito to see who exactly he was, _oh so gently carrying_ , and what it'll imply for him and this round of timeline bullshittery.

Almost.

He would've been, if it wasn't for the fact this sure wasn't his first rodeo. After dancing fucking tango with death and playing tic-tac-toe against a megalomaniac multiple times in basically countless timeline shenanigans, he ain't no pussy no more, that's for sure. So what's one more on top of his already tired facade?

Exactly.

Glancing down at the smooth confines of cloth, white bones peeked back up at him. Tiny little hands curled and clutched between their chest and Sans' own white shirt as they nuzzle their head further into red that contrasted the cream of their bone colour. Orange danced along their wrapped body, signalling his brother's familiar and nostalgic babywear before he grew into a splendid and bright child..

...

Fuck, this bundle of bones _couldn't_ be his baby brother, right? This' just a crude joke that _thing_ is playing with him, right?? It wasn't possible to rewind time all the way back into his childhood, many, many years before all that time jumping monkeyshines started appearing, right??? No, _no_. He had to give this kid away to someone, someone who could take care of them before he went to find _his_ Papyrus. He has to be here, somewhere in the underground. No way, no way that-

Two big black sockets bore up at his skull, making Sans freeze from his internal battle. Crap, all of his panicking must've woken them up from their light nap. Sans could see the curious discontent forming in between the kid's brow, scrunching a little at him for disturbing their sleep. He nervously gave those baffling eyes a small grin, lifting a finger to poke their nasal bone just like the snowflake had done to him a little while ago.

The child blinked up at him, a little startled before making the cutest 'nyeh' Sans has ever heard that make his SOUL fucking _melt_ like snow. He couldn't help but hug the child a little closer and tighter towards him when they started to make grabbing movements with their tiny hands, as if asking him for a hug. Sans gave out a shaky sigh.

Yeah, this..this is definitely Papyrus alright, his cute little baby brother. Only he, can he make Sans' SOUL tremble and so vulnerable like that.  


"shit," Sans cussed, ignoring how his voice had decided to shrivel up and return to how he used to sound like when he was younger; like a dying squirrel, and scrunched a grimace. "how fucked is this timeline going to be??"

He knows he's exaggerating it a little too much, but he's slowly getting ticked off at how far this run had sent him back this time round. It hadn't ever gone so far back into the past per reset before, it'd always only been the same mundane few days prior the damn kid's fall. He doesn't understand how he could've jumped all the way back. He wasn't so sure whether he wanted to know what means or not.

Was it a glitch? It could've been a glitch. It was bound to happen sooner or later with how restless...whatever it was, had used its power for, endlessly reset things over and over again, just to play at puppets and bayonet strings. Or perhaps the kid..was back and in control? No.., that would've been too hopeful. He hadn't seen the kid in a long time now. Sans wasn't even sure whether he could sense them anymore in that body of theirs-which was a little sad, really. They were a good kid, until they decided to go on a slaughter spree. Sometimes he wonders what drove them to do what they did. Was it the determination that they had, or just plain ol' 'because they could, they will'?

A small sneeze and a sniff after, Sans decided to put those thoughts on hold. No matter what it was, he could put them aside for now. It was getting a little too cold for him and his brother to be standing around. He needed to find a place to stay for...what he assumes the night is. It only ever gets colder in Snowdin whenever night rolls by. No point lingering in the past when he has someone to take care of right now. His precious little brother is still oh so innocent, oh so untouched in his arms and he intents to make sure he stays that way. Even then, even now.

Sans began walking towards the direction of Snowdin, prepared to stay at the inn he knew was, fortunately already running when he was younger, for the night when he paused and looked out at the deep forest of pine trees and vegetation that survived under the cold weather, thinking. Perhaps he should change where they could settle down in this time around. If they lived a little further away from the Ruins, Sans could deter his brother's encounter with the ~~human~~ thing come forth the years down the road. If it was gonna dump his ass further away from the initial start of the run, he was damn well gonna take advantage of that and try to keep his brother alive and apart. He had the knowledge and the power to do so too, so he doesn't see why he shouldn't.

With that in mind, Sans turned on his heels away from Snowdin and marched the opposite direction, ready to port away into Hotland.

_I wouldn't change things too much in the past if I were you, sans._

Sans jumped at the whisper right behind his head and spun around, trying to pinpoint where it had come from. His head buzzed a little too loud for his own liking at the voice, pounding uncomfortably within his skull. Sweat started to accumulate on his skull from the sudden need to built his magic up within his SOUL, ready to fire at anything he deemed a danger to him and his brother. It was all for nought however, when Sans realised that he was alone amongst the snow and trees. Not one single being or monster was anywhere near his premises. Even when he stretched out his magic to check his surroundings, nothing came back on his radar.

_I know that protecting your brother comes first but you should really stay in Snowdin._

Sans jumped again and growled, looking around frantically for the damn voice. White pinpricks dart all over the place to find _something_ , something that was making that unsettling fizz but nothing he could _see_ was doing so. He doubts blasting another round of magic would do any good either if he couldn't find anything the first time he did it. But damn was the buzzing hurting his head like hell.

_As much as I'm flattered that you're trying so hard to find me, I think it's best to get to Snowdin soon._

"and why should i listen to whoever you are?"

Sans growled irritably, baring teeth as threatening as he could at empty air, hoping it'll get the message across to wherever that voice was coming from. He readjusted Papyrus in his arms a little more comfortably to run too if needed. He was never too sure when there'll be a threat, so better be prepared than sorry. Sans could almost feel them pause for a bit before speaking again, their voice ever so ringing and unidentified.

_Uh, you don't have to?_

"then-"

_-That is, unless you wanted to freeze your brother to death or get him sick from the sudden change in temperature, then you should really start walking to Snowdin-or teleport, whichever tickles your fancy._

Sans' socket widened and mumbled a cussed, looking down to his brother in worry. He hadn't noticed that Papyrus had started to shiver in his frantic search for the threat, his cream bones couldn't be anymore paler than before and his eyes were squeezed shut. The flimsy cloth wasn't enough to hold warmth anymore, especially since it was exposed to Sans' chilling magic. It wasn't going to hold and Sans needed to warm Papyrus fast. The voice and whatever could wait for him to deal with them later, his brother takes priority first in his list. He can take the ringing in his head. As quick as he could, Sans threw off his jacket and wrapped it around his baby brother, cooing at his whimpers and kissing his temple before turning heel again and _running_. But Sans wasn't being fast enough, he could feel Papyrus' breath progressively getting shallower against his chest.

"fuck, fuck, fuck _fuckfuckfu-_ "

_Cussing isn't gonna increase your speed, sans. You're gonna have to teleport to your house._

"i know!" Sans hissed back, ignoring the growling buzz and fumbling with his magic. With another low growl, he charged his magic into his left eye, feeling it shift and cackle into that familiar blue blaze and braced Papyrus and himself for the jump between the void. Sans cooed at his brother once more and wrapped him securely in this arms. "don't worry paps, you're gonna be okay."

Sans immediately crash-landed into the living room the second after with a loud thud, tumbling and rolling to a halt with his back slammed against one of the brown walls that decorated the house. He groaned at the pain but ignored it in favour of checking on Papyrus' health. Shifting his arms out a little to get a better look at his brother Sans couldn't help but let out a little sigh of relief. Papyrus wasn't shivering as much as he was before anymore, the warmth from the house was slowly easing into his bones, making it comfy enough to drift back to sleep.

_Huh, and here I thought the cold couldn't bother skeletons._

"not when you're a baby bones, no," replied Sans, irritably. He was still a little startled at the voice, head buzzing still but with lacklustre, fortunately. He didn't jump this time round too and scoot away from the wall, repositioning his brother and himself a little more comfortably on the fuzzy floor. "their magic hasn't developed enough to deter that yet."

Sans hear them hum softly under the ever slowing fuzz in his skull and let his eyelids fall shut for a bit, thankful that his head wasn't killing him anymore and letting the warmth finally course through his own body as well. He wasn't going to bother looking around the room to find the voice anymore-it wasn't gonna help him anyways. So he just laid there on the floor, holding Papyrus close just in case. He's still wary after all, so it made sense to keep a close eye on his brother. Yep, for comfort and protection.

Definitely not because he couldn't particularly feel his back or anything like that from the throbbing pain that's starting to act up.

Nope, definitely not that.

And whether the voice knew about it or not, they sure didn't comment about it.

_I'm surprised you're taking this quite well then I thought you would._

"and i'm surprised you're still here."

Sans hear them hum once more as if considering before speaking again.

_Touché. Are you not afraid I might do something bad? Maybe harm you, or your brother?_

Sans cracked an eyesocket at that, staring out into the air.

"will you?"

A pause, and then a reply.

_No._

"then i've got nothing on ya. besides," Sans closed his eyes again, feeling cosy under the heat of the house. "even if it wasn't directly, you're on my good list since you helped my bro from dying."

_Well, aren't you so trusting. I thought you'd be much more cynical after the blur of timeline insanity. Where did the real sans go?_

Sans chuckled at their scoff, taking note that the voice knows about the timelines. He has a feeling that they'll be here for a long while, so he'll be able to question them on it later. For now, he'll just entertain them and take a break. God knows he needed it.

"what can i say? it's good to see something, uh, someone?- no offence, doing something nice after so long."

Sans chuckled again but didn't hear anything else afterwards, only Papyrus' soft snoozes within the silence of the room. That was fine by Sans, he wasn't too eager to hear a reply anyways. The consistent fizzle within his skull tells him that the voice was perhaps still there, merely unresponsive and that fine. He'll just take this opportunity to take a nap or two with his brother when the buzzing wasn't so headache-inducing. Opening his eyes once more, he did a quick scan of his living room for any threats before planting a small skele kiss on his brother's skull and drifted off to sleep, thinking about how odd the living room looked...

_...sans._

"..."

_sans._

"..mm.?"

_You can't sleep on the floor._

"mhm.."

_sans, get to bed._

"mmm....."

_sans._

"mm.."

_sans, at least get to the couch._

"mmhm.."

_Come on now._

The voice sighed as they watch Sans subconsciously carried Papyrus and himself over to the couch sluggishly before falling asleep again.

* * *

***A safe spot has been found, would ̶̴̞̲̟͍̖̊̊͛͋̉̅̾͌ͅς̵̶̴̛͚̹̻̞̹̫͍͈̩̝̥̈́̏͋̉̐͒̽͋̋̚͠͝ί̵̶̶̨̨̛̛͇̖̠̹͔̟͍͍̣̪̹͗͆̊̔̓̓̃̏͊̚͜ͅε̴̶̵̜̘͕̗̭̪̟̜͍̈́̄̾̂͗̓͑͂́̈́̚͠͠ͅσ̷̶̸̛̠̙̲̘̤̝͓͓̔̋͛̎̌͛͑̀̿̄̉̓͂͂͝ε̸̡̡̧̘̣͓̻̻̹̂ like to-**

**. . . .  
**

***Request complete.**

**  
** ***Everyone can now interact with the sanctum sanctorum and the personals within.**

***Please be mindful to not inflict harm or cause dis̵͎̫̻̥̝͔͉͇̏̂̄̈̓̈́́ţ̵̫̂̇̍̚͜͝͝r̵̨͕̣̜̝̬̟̮͈͎̈́ë̵̛̛̘̳̳́͌̈́͆̃͝s̶̢̪̻̩̗̝͗̓̍̆͝s̶̗̺̠̩̿̋͘͝ ̴̧̰̘͕̔̇͒̽͂̕t̵̟̦̙̯̼͇͛̂͂ơ̸̥̭͋̽̄̅̏̈́̾̓ ̶̨̫̳͎͉̓̇̎̏͋̂͛͜t̵̛̹̙̘͐̒̽͆̆̇̉h̴̸̴̷̴̸̵̵̵̵̵̵̸̸̶̸̴̵̢̢̡̢̢̡̧̨̧̛̛̗̞̤̭̥͉͖̩̰̺͓̩̘̪̞̗̮̝̖͓̱͕͕̘͚͎̼̦͔͓̰͉̬̖̹̭̤͇̱͔̙̳͈͈̙̱̝̟̤̼̖̳̹̩̙͉̱̤͇̫̫͇̗͖͇̖̱̞͙̃̃̆̊̽̈́͋͋̃̒̓̓̀̓̆̓͗̎̿̐̔̃̍̏̈́͂̿̈͐̍̓̍͑̒̿̐̍̐̿͌̇́̈́̏͊͆̽͐̏̈́͛͂̽͗̃̿̽̈́͛́̌̄͗̒͋̆͛͊̄̇̈͋̆̅͗̃̑̈͆̇̎͋̽̽̇̒̕̕̚̕̚̕̕͜͠͠͠ͅơ̶̷̴̸̷̶̵̶̴̴̸̶̷̷̵̷̷̸̷̡̨̢̨̨̧̨̡̧̨̠͔̼͇̞͕̝͍̹̰͎̬̖̟̣̦̺̫͎̜̼̠̹̼͕͈̟̝̥͕͍͖̤͕̠͉̜̼̙̜̣̭̲͖̩̝̩̤͈̦̙̖̻͎̻̰̜̙̞̰̺̠̫̤̼̻̺̞̠͓̦̥̦̯̝̬̩͕̘͐̉̆͆̇̅̈́̉̓͑̿̀̎̈́̓̽̆̇̾̊̓̒̿̑͐͌̂͗̋͊̓́͂͐̒̄̔̏̓͊̌̿̃̋͊͂͑̽̋̂͂͊̈́̑̐̀͂̅̌̌̎͑̾̎̈́̐̈̿̈͗͋̅͐͒͗͆̑̌̄̾̅̿̈́̔̏͌͛̕̕̕̕̕͘͘͜͜͠͝͝͝͠͠ͅs̵̸̴̸̵̴̴̷̷̷̶̶̶̴̷̨̡̨̧̢̧̡̢̢̧̨̡̛̛̛̹̥̲͓͓̲̮̗̝̻̫͔͉̼͙̲̜̖̥̦͓͖̰͓̩̠̟͔͍̣̝̝̣̗̦̘̯͚͚̭͙̰̫̳̦͙͓̯͕̳̤̱͈̗̗̼͔͈̳͕̦̰͚̙͕̤̯͇̠̮͍̩̖͍̘̝̜͓̬͓͙͒̏̓̅̈́̓͑͆̒͑̆́͒̓̓̿̌̅̑̀̿͐̽̃̌̅͛̈́̍̌̌̐̈͌̽̾͊̌͒̾̎̂̆̒̃͛͑̈̀́͛̎̅͌͑̿̋̆̅̈́͆̊͂̋̓̌̍̈̓͆́̚̚̕͘͘̚͠͠͝ͅͅͅe̶̵̴̶̸̶̷̸̴̵̶̸̵̷̵̴̴̡̡̡̢̨̡̧̡̛̛̤̯̘̻̯͖͖̠͚̗̥̺̬͉̭͕̫̻̖̩͎͇̳͍̼̹̻͈̣͈̳͍̙̟̻̫͇̬̻̱̩̗̗͙̻͇̥̟̤̥̯̦̦̩̜̖̦̘̣̗͇̼̥͖̣̼͍̘̤̖̲͕̳͈̟̠̜͓̦̞̯̘̳̖͚̺̲͙̦̠̲̥͔̭̣̯̼̬̞̪͉͈̰̼̱̮͐̄͂̈́̎͗͂̋͂̃̊͑͂͂̓͂͐̑̏̽̍͛͑͒̂͐̅̎͒̓̆̋̏̈́̎̓̋̈́́͗̃͛̔̐̉̏̈͐̑̾̐̈͂̃̃̋̇̐͗̒̎́̄͋̏͊͊͌̑̍̋̄́̉̐̓̾̎͐͒͒̽̕͘͘̚̚͘͘͘̕̕͜͜͠͠ͅ-̷̶̸̶̴̷̴̶̧̧̡̛͎̹͍̼̤͓͓̟̘̳̪̺̙̺̹̫̱̠̮̳̹̗̺̬̤̳̳̤̹̗͈̬̺̱͔̻̖̞͍͖̞͐̽̋͋́̅̿̍͐̇͑͂̓̈̿͗̋̓̂̍̇̎̿̂̀̇̏͂̐̕͜͜͜͜͠͝͝-̴̴̴̸̸̷̶̵̷̷̶̷̸̵̸̡̡̨̧̨̨̧̛̛̛̰̗̫͈̜̜̞̤̩̼̙̲͙͈̩̘̮̰̝̪͔̭̘̠̣̖̫̟̱̗̹̻̪̠͉̝̫̺̗̬̦̞̞̗̘̘̺̺̗̠͍̮̰̲̣̣͓̩̳͓̦̱̲͙͇̦̹̊̒̈́̋̊̔̾͆͋͆͌͒̍͂̾̇̔̔̏̊͐̉̽̔̽͛̈́̒͑͋̅̃͊̏̅̈́̃̽̃͊͗̾͆͆̓̅̑̇̀̒͊͐̇́̓̆́͐͆͛̓̐̉͒͛͋͗̆̽̕͘͘͘̕͘̚͘͘̚͠͝͝ͅ-̴̵̴̷̶̴̶̶̵̵̴̶̨̢̨̡̡̢̧̛̛̛̟̹͕̰̫̣̻̬̪̣͈̝̠̮͕͚̫̺̣̤͚̲̲̬͎̣̲̺̜̠͈̩̭̤̰̩̞̖̰̫̰̞̹̝̹̫͇̭̩͙̮̫͙͍͈̳̘̱̝̫̞̘͈͓̥͙̟̦̗͛̂͌̐̽͌̎͆͗̔̎̍͗͛̓̃̒͛̋̈͛̍̈́̈͑̏̽̋̈́̋̍͗̅̈͛̾͌̅̈̊̄́̽̌̍̈́̈̒̑̌̓͘̚͘͜͠͠-̵̵̴̶̶̷̸̴̶̴̶̸̴̸̵̶̸̡̨̢̡̨̢̨̨̛̛̤̲̠̻̩̜̣̗̩̣̲̤͉̫̺̺͓̘̺̠̯̟̩̘͖̰͕̞̺͍̫̯̺̥̫̬̯̜̯̮̩̯͚̩͇̱̦̝̜̺̝͔̺͚̭̩͎̤̦͓̜̯̲̙͍͉͖̠̞̫̞̲̝͕̹̤͚̗̳̭̤̻̦̳͙̞̥͎͓̩̯͖̮͈̺͕̼̱̳̝̳͍̟̞̩͍̺̗̥̋̂͋̓̏̈̈́̈́͒̈̾̑͊̂̂̋͗̄͋̒̅̈͊͛͗̅̈́͌̓͂̈̿́͋̆̈́̌̒̑̏̒͑͗̽̐̓̆̆͛͂͌̽̔̇́͗͊̾͋͆͂̔͒̓̅͛͛͘͘͘͘͜͜͜͝ͅͅ**

**.**

**.**

**.**

***Error 404, unknown search 'save point' command cannot be understood.  
** ***Error 404, unknown search 'save star' command cannot be understood.**

***Error, Interaction is now open to anything and everyone to enjoy.  
**

***All unclear interaction instructions will be automatically interpreted without discretion.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Recognised safe spot, begin installation?  
> *Yes
> 
> Download in progress...
> 
> ..
> 
> Loading..
> 
> ...
> 
> Loading...
> 
> ....
> 
> Congratulations, installation complete.  
> *Comments are now in effect.
> 
> Have fun everyone =)


	3. -after you hear this signal bodeboop. A single lap should be completed every time you hear this sound. ding Remember to run in a straight line and run as long as possible. The second time you fail to complete a lap before the sound, your test is over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Trigger Warning;  
> Slight Panic Attack.

Was Sans in hell?

Cause it really feels like he's in hell.

Static white and hot flames exploded within his skull like molten lava and heat. Deafening screeches poured against his sleep ridden mind, whining for his needy, hungry attention despite being unconscious and unreciprocating. Sans' jumped, eye sockets flying open and _screamed._ He clawed at his skull roughly, almost desperately, for release from the bubbling agony. All he could see was white and vertigo, searing shrill still throbbing hard in his head, ringing like a madman. He hadn't even realised that he had fallen pitifully onto the floor beside the couch in his thrashing.

Sans laid there in what felt like decades but in reality, only a few minutes, curled up into a ball before the chattering noise finally slowly died out, leaving a whimpering mess on the ground and pleasantly low hum within his head. No static, no ringing, not even the annoying buzzing he had going on previously was there anymore. Sans let out a shaky sigh and dart his eyes back up to the couch to check on Papyrus. Thankfully, only startled eyes stared back at him from the bundle of clothes, not entirely happy that he was woken up so abruptly by Sans' screams but nonetheless unharmed. He hadn't touched a single chip on his brother's bones in spite of his violent flailing earlier-which is good. He wasn't so sure he would've even have forgiven himself if he did.

_Good morning sans._

Sans groaned and rolled flat onto his back, blinking his pinpricks up to the ceiling at the entrance of the voice.

_How are you doing? Sleep well? óuò_

"does this look like i'm doing fin- wait hold on, how'd you do that?"

_Do what?_

"that," Sans tried to mimic the odd face that flashed through his head, squeezing his facial bones a little too stiffly to call it an expression. A strangled noise came from the couch. Right, Papyrus was watching him. That's fine, might as well entertain his brother together too. Sans tried to pull another face and heard the voice snort a little at whatever he was attempting to do.

_What?_

"you know, that thing- you know what, nevermind."

Sans sighed through his nose and promptly gave up, deciding it's just best not to question whatever that was. So he just continued to lay on the ground like a limp doll, watching the still living room of his house, occasionally glancing at Papyrus to see whether he was doing alright on the couch. He never actually had the chance to fully observe his surroundings the previous night ~~mostly because of the new fuckton of anomalies, magic exhaustion and his brother's health-okay, mainly the fear of Papyrus' health~~ but now that he has the time to do so, he could understand why he had vaguely found the place real iffy the other night.

Everything had remained the same, and Sans didn't mean the nostalgic furniture and things from his childhood years. No, but when Papyrus and Sans had become full-fledged adults. The green couch that baby Papyrus laid on was old and worn out, not new and clean when they first got it during Sans' adolescence days. Rocky the Pet could be seen having its days old-months, years?? Sans can't really remember-sprinkle flakes still scattered all over the plate it sat on from across where Sans laid and those little funny yellow sticky notes between his brother and him about his sock were still stuck against the wall beside the old and worn television.

_SANS! PLEASE PICK UP YOUR SOCK!_

_*ok._

_DON'T PUT IT BACK DOWN! MOVE IT!_

_*ok._

_YOU MOVED IT TWO INCHES! MOVE IT TO YOUR ROOM!_

_*ok_

_AND DON'T BRING IT BACK!_

_*ok._

_IT'S STILL HERE!_

_*didn't you just say not to bring it back to my room?_

_FORGET IT!_

Ahh, the good old times.

Sans wasn't so sure whether the kitchen, Papyrus' room nor his room were the same as the living room, he obviously hadn't checked. Hell, he wasn't sure whether he wanted to know either. But something deeps inside tells him that it was. His house had become something perpetual and Sans wasn't sure whether he was happy or not at this anomaly. He supposes, if he was able to deter change by the timelines and resets away from his secret backroom, what's stopping that room's continuity or whatever's out there to entirely affect the whole house too?

He sighed and looked back up to the ceiling once more, focusing back at the voice that was quietly chuckling, their low hum ever so softly reverberated their honey velvet within his skull. Seriously, how fucked was this timeline gonna be? It started with kicking him back many years even before the run, then his magic, then his brother, his house, that agonizing pain he had just earlier, and now this honey velvet of a voice was sounding much nicer than its buzzing counte-Sans paused and scrunched his brows together.

Honey velvet?

That's new. Last he checked, that voice was buzzing in his head, no _behind_ his head like an annoying bumblebee. Now they're soft and calming, sickly sweet and alluring within his headspace. The buzz was replaced by that comfortable hum after that intense episode.. episode? Can he even call that an episode of his own? Well nevertheless, he'll tackle all of them one by one eventually. He'll have to question the voice's changes first though. They had altered after that head-bashing agony after all, makes him wonder whether the voice was at fault for the skull-splitting pain.

"was that you earlier?"

_Hm?_

"that noise-those static and agonising ringing in my head, was that you?"

_Oh, you heard that? I'm surprised that you did, you weren't supposed to be able to hear them._

"and how can i trust that you aren't lying?"

Sans grunted, finally deciding to sit up from the floor with his mouth tugged down, clearly unhappy.

_Honest. I wasn't trying to harm you in any way. I was only trying to adjust some things so it wouldn't hurt when we talk.  
My voice's much more easier to listen to now right? Clearer too, that buzzing isn't making your skull throb anymore isn't it?_

Sans grumbled. The voice wasn't wrong, it was much better to converse this way rather than whatever mess yesterday's interaction was. He doesn't need to watch his back as intense either too if the voice was going to directly communicate inside his mind. 

"alright fine, just don't do it again."

_That won't be a problem._   
_Plus, I think you have much more pressing matters to attend to._

"what, questioning the matrix of my house?"

_That too, but I think dealing with the water leaking out of your kitchen takes priority first. I don't think you want your house to flood now, do you?_

"wh-"

And then Sans saw it. Slithering out like a snake from the kitchen was unmistakenly, a trail of water. It crawled to a stop at the patterned fur floor, dissolving into the bellies of the carpeted surface. Sans bolted up in a panic and ran into the kitchen, skiing to a halt in the middle of the liquid mess forming from within. Water poured from the tall sink unbashfully, staining the marble floor and every nook and cranny it could get into. The counters were wet, the stove was wet, even the fridge, which stored _cold_ item was..wet??? How the hell was _that_ even happening?? And then to make it worse, when Sans couldn't reach the sink due to his smaller figure and had to literally float his ass up with blue magic to shut the tap, he realised that it wasn't even on in the first place! What he found instead was this weird....round.. yellow face-is it even a face?-smiling, no, crying? Uh, laughing?? thing in his sinking literally producing the same clear liquid currently trying to taking over his kitchen. It's....tears? flowed from the curve slit of its eyes and to its surface before gushing down to the overflowing sink, drain unable to contain the plentiful amount of..whatever this liquid was. What the hell even is this?

_Oh it's an Emoji._

"what?"

_It's a laughing and crying Emoji._

..Uh okay, Sans decided he wasn't going to understand that. Nor was he sure how to proceed with it either. Sans blankly stared at it and kinda just floated there for a while with the face in his hands, transparent liquid flowing down his hands and down to the sink. Does...does he poke it or something? Would that stop the tears? Sans wasn't so sure. While he could feel that its flesh(?) from his hold, it'll probably just make it laugh harder from being..ticklish...? He's not sure how this thing works. He doubts blasting it was a Gaster Blaster would help too. It would be an easier way to deal with it but not the aftermath. Plus he doesn't really have enough magic to summon one now. He's already using up whatever's left in his lack of magic reserves to float.

_Why not just eat it?_

"uh-"

_It just looks like food that moves, it probably even has healing capabilities._

"wh-"

_Look, why not just do a Check?_

And so he did.

*** "Laughing-Crying Emoji" - Heals a random number of HP per bite (10 max)**

***The snack that smiles back**.

Ookay, that not unsettling _at all_. At least he could put this in his dimensional box to save right?

The face slipped into Sans' dimensional box with ease, freezing its laughing and crying in time and relieving Sans' troubling solutions to the endless waterfall. Sans sighed, glad that everything was over and lowered himself down onto the ground, tired from using his magic on himself. That should be the end of it, right? He could finally get his brother and him some food for the morning and relax a little right?

Haha, _nope_.

Sans smelled it before feeling and seeing it. Burnt metal wafted towards his nose, tickling at it funny and made his eye sockets water a little. Eyes widening in fear, he whipped his head back to see his stove literally smoking from hellish orange flames.

_Oh look, fire._

"don't 'oh look, fire' me! my stove is _wet_ and fucking on _fire!_ "

Indeed it was, the stove was simultaneously burning and soaked, something Sans clearly don't see every day. He doesn't even know how the fire could've started too. While he did have an old stove for cooking purposes, it never was actually plugged into an active electrical socket that could start up a charged electrical fire with water. Most if not all of the underground used fire magic to prepare their food, Sans and his brother wasn't an exception either. He couldn't understand how a _normal_ fire could've been created with no catalysis. He could tell that it was a normal fire too from the way the flames licked and sway, threatening and ferocious, unlike the mild and tamed nature of fire magic. And yet, Sans wasn't one hundred percent sure whether it _is_ normal fire. Sure he couldn't sense any of the usual magic shazam that fire magic had in those fire, but it didn't explain how they could've _spontaneously_ popped up not just the stove, _but every random spot it had decided to occupy in the kitchen, be it wet or dry_. Sans turned back to the sink, feeling another wave of heat suddenly coming from the back of his skull. Fuck-even his sink was now on _fire_ too! He just looked away for one second goddamnit!

_Godda start putting out the fire now sans. Papyrus' just in the next room._

Right.

Growing real frustrated, Sans started to snuff out all the flames as fast as he could with his bones, peppering his own hands against the growing flames. They don't do much, but at least it was something. Sans was real glad that he was at least old enough for his magic to finally stabilised and settle down to handle heat like he is currently abusing right now to, literally and figuratively beat the ever-living shit out of the fire.

He was so busy giving it a beatdown that he hadn't realised someone else had walked in front of the kitchen, concerned at the startling amount of dark grey clouds chugging out into the living room.

"Hello? Is everything alri-WOAH!"

Fast reflexes had never failed Sans. The moment his ears picked up a voice that wasn't coming from his head, nor the familiar 'nyeh' he's come to love so dearly, his eyes snapped up sharply and flicked three sharp bones directly at where he assumes the intruder was standing outside the kitchen. It had only finally dawned on him who he was aiming for a split second too late after he launched his attack and watched in horror as his bones flew towards the big brown bear he used to see as another fatherly figure other than his biological dad during his childhood years.

Sans braced for impact, for the scream and eyes of betrayal as they go hollow and turn to dust. He would have to pick it up and hide it away-no, that'll be wrong of him to do that. He doesn't want to deprive another family a father. Sans will have to just pass them the dust and endure the grief and blame they'll take against him. That's fine, it was his fault that he died after all. He'll just take it and apologise, even if it wouldn't change anything. Yes, he'll do that.

And so he braced for it. In that whirlwind of thoughts, he was prepared for the bones to strike down his only other father figure and pay for his sins. He'll be ready for it, just like every other time he had made up his mind over the sins he will do. Yet it never came. Sans blinked and readjusts his focus at the entrance of the kitchen. The bones had missed, albeit barely. The monster had dodged just in time for the bones to just barely scrape off a little fur off their body and lodge itself at the ceiling above the house's doorframe.

Now, Sans' accuracy wasn't something to scoff at. He could hit the nail in the coffin and killed whomever he was aiming for extremely easy, that's how he kept whatever that thing was in the Judgement Hall entertained and coming back for more. In fact, that's how his accuracy got even _more_ precise. Those bones, made and practised multiple times to never miss their target, had done entirely what they were NOT created to do; they had missed. It was a relieve to Sans though, and he let out a breath he didn't know he was even holding. The missing height difference must've really screwed over his calls and as the Judge, it didn't sit well for him at all. However, if it wasn't for his current sad sack of short stature, he wouldn't have miscalculated and killed an innocent monster. That overrules whatever pride he has as Judge and so he'll let this slide once.

"Woah there! I didn't mean to startle you that badly."

Sans immediately apologised.

"i-i'm sorry. i was so busy with the mess in the kitchen that i didn't see anyone coming in...i haven't been able to clean the water and put out the fire and i-i have a baby brother i haven't fed yet-i'm really sorry, i didn't-i just found myself alone with P-papyrus in the forest and i've been so stress i-"

"Hey, hey it's okay. Calm down alright? Come on now, focus on me."

White shrunken pinpricks darted back up to watch the slowly approaching bear, careful not to touch anything amongst the kitchen's disarray. He stretched his arms out towards Sans and knelt down where he had sunk onto the ground. The ground..? When did he didn't drop down on the floor? He was just standing up and apologising..Ah, Sans realised he was having a panic attack. Stars, everything just had to come crashing down on him at the worst possible timing huh?

The events from the previous day came rushing forward, along with the issues and stress that came along with it. Sans quickly clung onto the bear, unnoticed that his hard grip had made him winced, shaking and shivering, breath haggard and unable to breathe properly. The bear murmured soft encouraging words towards him until he finally calmed down a little, all the while he hears the voice coaching his focus and breathing.

_Breathe, sans. In and out. Slowly now... that's right.  
You don't have to reply back to me but think about my questions alright? Who is hugging you right now?_

_bear._

_Do you have a brother?_

_yes._

_What is his name?_

_P-papyrus._

_Who am I?_

_a voice who knows something that i don't._

The voice chuckles, their sweet voice calming Sans' panicked mind more than it should've. He sighed and leaned into Politics bear, letting his warm fur calm him down even more.

"Feeling better?"

Sans nodded.

"i'm really sorry for attacking you."

"It's okay, you didn't mean it after all right?"

Sans shook his head side to side roughly.

"i-i didn't mean to hurt you, i-i swear!"

"Then there's no need to worry right? All's forgiven."

Politics bear patted Sans' head softly and he couldn't help but hug him in return, so relief from being forgiven and happy that tears prickled a little at the corners of his eye sockets. Turning back into a kid must've really affected how he's acting. Sans didn't mind it too much though.

"Now, let's clean up this mess alright? I'll help put out the fire."

Sans nodded shyly and got to work on drying the kitchen while Politics bear help snuff out the odd fire. His big paws did wonders on them, extinguishing each troublesome spots at one go and with ease. In a matter of minutes, the kitchen was back to being spotless and shiny. Sans didn't even question how the kitchen could remain completely untouched from the fire, and thankfully neither did Politics bear did. Sans was just glad it was over and done. He just wanted food in his stomach now.

"thanks for the help mr. bear."

Politics bear just waved him off, smiling warmly.

"Think nothing of it, kiddo. You're new to Snowdin right? So as new neighbours, we got to help each other out you know? And please, just call me, 'Bear'."

Sans nodded absently, thoughts drifting from Bear's words. New, huh? That's something different in this timeline too. If Sans could recall correctly, his brother and he moved to Snowdin when Papyrus was a year or two older than they initially were now, along with their biological father, WingDing Gaster. Sans was honestly lowkey hoping that he would've popped up with so many anomalies appearing in the span of two whole days, but it didn't seem like it'll happen any time soon. Dad _was_ and still is scattered through time and space. It isn't going to be that easy for a few irregularities to pull that sucker out from the void. That being said..

"how'd you get in anyway? i thought the house door shouldn't have been open."

Bear scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Oh about that-"

A cry from the living room snapped Sans out of the conversation and bolted out, panicking once again at what could've gotten Papyrus to wail out.

"p-papyrus! what's wro-"

Sans could only stand there dumbstruck. Why. Why oh why did the impossible just have to keep on proving him wrong? Seriously, he' so fed up with all this timeline shenanigans bullshit. And now, just when he finally, _finally_ , thought he was done and have time to sit down and eat a burger or fries, _to just fucking eat something_. This had to happen.

Oh no, Papyrus was fine. In fact, he was _more_ than fine. He had this weird black mist-like tendrils wriggling around him unsettlingly to Sans but it doesn't seem like it was hurting him. Rather, Papyrus looked like he was having _fun_ interacting with all its wiggle and sways. He couldn't see where they were coming from, it looked like it just came out of nowhere but whatever it was seemed just pleased enough with entertaining and playing with his brother. That's fine Sans supposes. As long as it doesn't hurt him, he doesn't see any problem with it. Plus, he has an odd feeling those tendrils would protect his brother more so than harm either of them.

In any case, that wasn't the main problematic issue right now.

_One, two, three... Huh, would you look at that? The fourth wall is missing._

Indeed it was, the wall that had been facing the town had magically vanished into thin air, leaving nothing behind from the clean disappearance of that specific wall. Why a wall of all things? And why specifically the _fourth wall_?? Why _his wall_?? Was it some kind of glitch against the perdurable house?? Just..why????

Sans groaned into his hands as he watched the snow gingerly crept into the living room little by little. Monsters that weren't originally around started popping out curiously to peek at his house's odd state. Bear came out of the kitchen and awkwardly patted his shoulder, or at least attempted to as he had to literally lean down from his full weight just to touch his shoulder.

The voice snickered at his sad circumstances.

Sans sighed, resigned.

Was he in hell? He must be in hell. Cause Sans really, really feels like he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: So what if you found a living laughing and crying emoji in your overflowing kitchen sink?  
> Sibling:  
> Me:  
> Sibling: I'd stab it.  
> Me: Wh-  
> Sibling: I want to see if it'll change faces.  
> Me: What if it doesn't?  
> Sibling: Stab it again.  
> Me: What if it's stuck in the emoji and you can't take it out?  
> Sibling: Does it bleed?  
> Me: No, but it can heal you.  
> Sibling:  
> Me:  
> Sibling: I'd take a bite and then bandage it.  
> Me: wh-  
> Sibling: and then hide it from the government.  
> Me: uh-  
> Sibling: This healing property is mine and mine only now.
> 
> Fanart I did for the emoji scene!;  
> <https://talesofacreator.tumblr.com/post/626421049194577920/justwhy-i-dunno-sans-i-dunno-fanart-of-this>


	4. The test will begin on the word start. On your mark. Get ready!… Start. ding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *sometimes the author thinks that their chapters are too short, and doesn't have enough content.  
> 

"Hey there Sans. How are you holding up?"

Sans gave the purple bunny in front of him a lopsided grin, placing all the necessity he's picked from the store's displays and onto the shop's counter. He flited his eyes through his pile as thoroughly as he could, scanning and mentally checking off his list for all the items. Both baby food and ingredients, toiletries, some smaller clothing for his brother and himself...and some monster candies; it looked like he was good to go. The voice in his mind agreed, giving Sans a hum of approval and a much needed double-check for his list. Fishing out some gold from his baggy jacket, he clumsily counted them and went on his tippy-toes, placing them beside his items and pushing them forward towards the cashier.

A week or two had passed since the whole…weird house anonymity fiasco. Sans was determined that whatever caused his house to lose a fourth of its walls was, in fact, a glitch. Once news on the grapevine got word out that his house decided to eat its nonexistent insides to oblivion, the townsmen practically flocked to the brothers' rescue, offering homage to stay for the two while the bigger and well-built monsters repaired the gaping hole that the house has now come to. Within two days, materials were bought and scavaged from pine trees around the town and everyone chipped in to rebuild a better and sturdier wall. However, when it came down to the dirty nitty and gritty the next day that repairs were going to start, the wall just.. _decided to pop right back in_. 

No marks, no scratches or cracks, no nothing to indicate that it disappeared the day prior and it got heads turning real quick. Sans could only shrug when questioned on the odd wall.

_How'd that happen?_

Sans doesn't know.

_Was he the one behind it?_

Sans fucking wished it was, but no.

_How'd the logs gathered from the days before, which was stacked so neatly against the empty gap of the house, suddenly up and revamp the shed beside his house within just one night without anyone seeing or hearing it?_

How the hell was Sans supposed to know??

Nevertheless, Sans had never been ever so grateful for the community and accepted whatever lodge, warmth and food the town decidedly offered for the _two little cute skeletons around the block_. 

He’d wanted to decline receiving anything initially. He didn’t want any help that was being given to him because he was a good and big ol’ brother that could take care of Papyrus and himself ~~_just like he did when he was younger_~~ but then he remembered that this was new; _everything was new_ , and it was fucking him up real bad. He already had a panic attack once and he needed to calm the fuck down before he breaks and leaves Papyrus alone, his poor, _poor_ little younger brother. But that was fine right? Everything'll reset again anyways so nothing he did really mattered in the long run, right? Even if he died now, he was sure that it'd repeat again and he'll see his brother once more. Maybe this time round, he'll see him bigger and louder, cheerful like he was once upon a timeline ago, he wouldn't need to deal with these new things and go back to those old, _~~bad~~_ _good_ habit of his and sleep all day long. Greet the kid, kill. Say hello to Frisk, _kill_. ~~Beg~~ _Threaten that thing_ , **_kil_** -

_Breathe._

Sans inhaled deeply and sighed a little through his nose, keeping his default smile as soft and child-like as he could as he watched the bunny cashier coo at him, taking the Gold and recounting his work again in her hands.

Right, think of better things.

It was pure heaven that day, everyone was pampering the fuck out of his brother and him, giving him multiple monster candies, cinnabuns and cooing at the bundle of bones that he was carrying to the safety of Snowdin’s inn. Bear had offered to pay for the brothers’ lodging since they couldn’t crash at his house-he had kids and a wife to take care and couldn’t afford to watch another pair and Sans understood wholeheartedly but the innkeeper had refused, insisting that they could stay for free until their house was fixed up. Sans was ever grateful and appreciated the innkeeper even more so than he did in the past now. That night, his brother and he slept with warmth and love. They were cared for as much as possible and slept blissfully under fluffy blankets and quiet lullabies. The voice sang sweet nothings for his old soul to slumber, pure white surround and no nightmares came for Sans.

That night, Sans was at peace.

He dreamt of both old and new faces; some hazy, some vivid. His brother was joyful on the surface with him, and nothing could stop them from living their lives to the ends of dust. No resets, no death, no nothing. His brother was happy and he was content with that. Yes, he was happy. Happy..

_Happy..?_

~~That's not right.~~

Course, all good things have to come to an end and he woke the next day refreshed, and found himself much busier than he should've been when he was at that age once upon a time. Other than his house' meticulous recovery, he needed to get more information on his bearings before finding a job to sustain his brother and his own livelihood. If his suspicions were correct, then his dad won't be around this time round to support their daily needs as he did when Sans was younger once, and that was very troubling. In no sense could he bring bread to the table, nor gather the same connections as he did prior when his father was around as the royal scientist. Sure, he could rebuild those with Grillby, that was simple enough; crack a few jokes, be a regular and accumulate a tab like the old days but he couldn't do the same for fluffybuns, Alphys and the machinery the two of them had researched and built in the True Lab. He kinda wonders how in the world was he going to get that high paying Judge job back but that's something he'll think about along the way. He's just lucky enough that his house was stagnant to the reset, which means he still had some extra Gold to spare for food and baby goods. Course he didn't use what little he had till he needed to, opting to gorge all the townfolks' generosity for his brother, mainly for his brother, and himself until he couldn't do so anymore. 

Was it greedy of him to do so? Yes, yes it was and he felt really guilty..at first that is.

 _'It's for survival.'_ He reasoned with himself, despite the heavy gnaw it was eating at his soul. The voice scoffed at his obvious denial too, and settled on keeping quiet at his hypocritical choice. Sans wasn't sure whether he should be grateful or feel worse at that. Nevertheless, he did his best and took this time to adjust and take reins.

Sans crinkled his eyesockets as cheerful as he could muster and looked up to the bunny, thanking her for bagging the items and handing it to him with small grabby hands. The shopkeeper's soul melted and cooed once more at him, handing him a free monster candy which Sans happily took with enthusiasm before leaving the store with a big smile, bidding the purple bunny goodbye.

It was simple really; questioning the town with big, white puppy pinpricks and curious interest would make anyone relent and tatter, especially to a child so small, so gullible. He knew it'd work wondrously-at least his brother knew it did. Papyrus always did knew what to do if he wanted something from his big _bro_ when he was a babybones; he'd get Sans wrapped around his finger with those big and round pleading eyes. A tear and a half and Sans would be on his knees to spoil the everloving hell out of him. ~~It made Sans die a little inside when he remembers what he does for his dear little Papyrus.~~ Sans chuckled, watching the monsters around the town wave happily at him as he passed them. He waved back with a wide smile and bright shining eyes, making them coo and toss him more monster candy in response. Sans chuckled inwardly once again, pocketing the piling stack of monster candy before thanking them for the treats and gleefully bouncing away. Yep, if his brother could do it to him, then so can he if he learnt from the best.

Gaster was _not_ alive. Or well, he doesn't exist if the confused expressions Sans was getting when he asked around had anything to say about that. His dad was still shimmying and dancing to the macarena with the void-everyone has no idea who the hell he is. It's unfortunate, it really was. Sans was really hoping he was wrong, that maybe, just maybe the reset had just messed with some of the past events as collateral? Specifically, the day that their family moved to Snowdin but it was all for nought. Sans already knew he wasn't around when Bear came to his rescue with the kitchen fire but he couldn't help but hope just a little. At the very least, Sans had confirmed one of his suspicions. Time is not a factor to get his dad back, and if this was high school, he'd get a bonus mark for the extra credit and still fail his grade because it wasn't what he needed to find out right now. Sans shook his head a little to get his thoughts straight, ignoring the soft snickering at the back of his mind.

Right, focus. Sans needed to focus.

Whatever the case, asking whether his non-existence dad was around proved its effects. Everyone took sympathy and wanted to smoulder them with affection. Bear took it upon himself to care for them whenever he could like he did once upon a timeline and that made Sans feel..a bit content. He's glad that things still stayed a little similar despite how fucked this timeline really was. With the extra time Bear had given him whenever he came over to babysit Papyrus, Sans took it upon himself to go deeper into the woods to practice with his dangerously low magic reserves. If he wanted to increase his pool of magic back to its original size, he needed to strain and expand it, letting it mould into the smaller stature he had now before his shots are as deadly as they were before.

_You know, you're taking everything oddly well._

Sans hummed in return, pausing in front of his house to give his house's wall a stink eye before unlocking the door and heading inside. The warmth emitting from inside washed against his cold bones as soon as the door swung open, making him sigh in content

"am i now? that's the second time you've mentioned that."

_Other than the panic attack, fire, near murder-yeah, especially with your brother.  
You just got him back, I thought you'd be more paranoid to leave your brother alone with anyone else._

The voice isn't wrong, he _was_ worried about leaving his brother to Bear. As much as he had trusted him, this timeline is new and different. He had to keep reminding himself that. As much hope as new could give him, it filled him with dread as well. He won't be able to predict things as much as he used to with the consistent repeats and that made him itch little more than he liked. And then there was that black mist that coiled around his brother like wriggly tendrils. He didn't like them. Even if it hadn't done anything to harm Papyrus, Sans didn't like that it was wrapping itself around his brother like a thick vile of protection. ~~Sans should be the one doing that.~~ He hadn't addressed it previously since it did no harm to his brother when there was a literal gaping hole in the house but now that things were settling down, he wanted to get rid of it. He did try to do a Check on it and observe it further into the days, but it kept avoiding him like it _knew_ and Sans hated it.

Sans quickly hovered all the appropriate items into the kitchen and fridge, the bags of clothes and other goods were placed onto the icky green couch before he ported into his room and onto his bed in a rush. Bone scrapped against fabric and bone as he scratched his shoulders with his claws as roughly as he could to ground himself just enough with the harsh sound and dull pain it created. Sans trembled a little and sighed into his hands once his mind decided to quieten down. His brother was at Bear's for the time being so he didn't need to bother with cleaning and the things on the couch for now.

"...'at answer your question?"

The voice kept silent and Sans couldn't help but sigh once more, laying back into his messy makeshift of a bed. His room hasn't changed one bit since the resets started and he intends to have it stay that way. His eye lights flickered around the room, taking in every detail, good or bad, as much as he could. His face couldn't help but scrunched a little at the trash tornado at the corner. Although, he wouldn't be opposed to cleaning up once in a while if needed though.

Man, does being a kid really make Sans a little more sensitive than he should be.

"i still have questions for you," Sans rolled to his side and stared blankly at the light from the caverns filtering through his only window. Dust could be seen floating gently around the stagnant air, glowing at the shine that the light provided. Sans' left socket twitched a little. He should really clean his room. "so you better not run away now."

_..Fair enough. What do you want to know?_

The voice didn't reply until a second later, their voice as neutral and soft yet venomous with such honey allure that it's almost suspicious. It didn't deter Sans however and he pressed on. He wanted answers and he needed them now.

"who are you?"

_I am but a voice._

"why couldn't i keep my brother safe, and away from harm?"

_Don't put it like that, sans. You can still protect your brother even if you lived in Snowdin. Don't put words into my mouth now._

"what's wrong with bringing him to Hotland then?"

_Do you want to risk that hyperactive brother of yours to fall into lava?_

"capital then."

_That's even worse.  
You should know that messing with the past could result in less favourable results in the future._

"wouldn't it be better to divert the timeline even more then? the more different things are, the less possibility that whatever shit i had to deal with in the future will happen."

_Are you stupid? Braindead? Messing with the space-time continuum will never achieve anything when you're powerless, let alone if you aren't the one in control. Look at what happened to Gaster and talk to me again once that thick skull of yours working again._

Sans bristled, agitation rolling off of him in thick waves. It wasn't as if he'd never thought about it before, whether it'd cause more damage than improve his situation, but mentioning his father was just adding insult to injury.

"who are you, really? what _are_ you?"

The voice paused, letting the quiet shuffle of trash hitting against each other within the trash tornado fill the growing silence before answering again, much less irritated and forlorn.

_..I am but a voice, a voice for you and you only sans._

Sans sighed, rubbing his temples to ease the growing headache he's feeling at the back of his skull.

Yup, thanks, that totally cleared up Sans' woes and issues. His bones are moist, his brother's a pasta chef, the demons in his mind has been cleansed, the sun is shining, life could not be better for Sans right now. Sans groaned into his hands, hearing the voice chuckled at his thoughts and misery.

_you can hear me like this, can you?_

_Good to know that you've finally figured it out. And here I thought you wouldn't after that panic attack of yours.  
_

Sans groaned once more, rubbing his face roughly.

On the bright side, he knew now, that they could listen to his thoughts. Communicating with them will be much easier now that he doesn't look like a madman mumbling nonsense underneath his breath whenever he's out of the house.

* * *

And so time went on just like that. Even if Sans didn't want and wasn't prepared enough for it, life continued to move forwards. One month came and went and then two, then three.. a year became three and then seven-Sans honestly couldn't keep up. He spent most of his time either taking care and raising his brother into that big bright and positive monster he will be in the past-future, stabilizing his magic, gathering information on the underground, or staying in his room for long intervals at a time; lie down, try not to cry, cry a lot. He hadn't had a break to pause, breathe for a bit and organise his game plan for the incoming horror.

Time was of the essence if he wanted to successfully combat the time wielding child and their fickle Determination.

Even then, Sans still had time to spare and prepare himself for the worst. Monsters don't age as humans do, it could take more than a couple of hundred of years for a monster child with full-blown stripes to fully mature into their adulthood, let alone their teenage years. It all depends on the specific types of monster species they were categorised under. Skeletons, one of if not the only rarest monster species with the population of a dwindling number of two, were one of the types with longer vitality alongside with boss monsters. Which means that they took a longer time to grow, and an even lengthier time to age. But that doesn't mean the rest of the monster species' lifespans were something to scoff at.

So he has time, lots of it too, a very much-needed thing for him as well with so many problems he's come to realise that he needed to further observe and solve before dealing with the little imp that has a little too much fascination with knives and his bones. Sans still shudders every now and then whenever he thought about all the battles they had in the Judgement Hall. He wasn't looking forward to such a bleak future again.

Nevertheless, the black mist accompanying his brother kept his mind at bay, stealing most of his attention for critical scrutiny. Sans already knew he couldn't watch it upfront whenever his brother played and fiddle around with it, it'd hideaway and vanish immediately whenever Sans tried to corner it or pop in unannounced via teleportation just to catch a quick glimpse of it with a Check. It clearly didn't appreciate Sans' snooping and Papyrus seemed to feel the same as well. At the third month of playing surprise peekaboo with it, his brother made it very clear he was upset with Sans' relentless pursue by crying. His brother's playful joy would turn sour, his face would scrunch almost painfully and he'd cry as relentless as Sans was to catch the mist whenever he popped up in front of him from the void. His brother would cry and cry nonstop until either his voice gave out or he'd passed out from exhaustion.

Sans didn't realise that _he_ was the one making his brother cry and increased his affords tenfold to wring his skeleton hands around the mist and strangle it for causing Papyrus' distress. He hadn't thought that he'd be at fault until Papyrus finally fell ill from all the screaming and trashing, fever raising to temperatures that a small child like Papyrus shouldn't have. Sans all but ran out of the house late at night in a panic to call for Bear for medical help and returned with the furry monster in toll only to find the black mist fretting over his brother like jittery moths, wrapping him in that same protective veil he's seen previously and cooling his brother down. Since then, he'd watch his brother interact with the mist from afar, never too close to alert them but far enough to just watch and if the mist noticed, it didn't shy away this time around. Sans was angry, oh so frustrated with himself for fucking up. He almost cost his brother's life and he felt extremely guilty. He didn't want to lose his brother anymore, he's do anything, _anything_ to keep Papyrus safe, even from his own deranged big brother.

And so he did. In a nightmare drunken spur one night, Sans went over to his brother's room and balled his eyes out right in front of his Papyrus' sleeping form. Sweet nothings and empty promises were the only things that could fumble out from his garbled mess, none of which would reach his brother; be it too young to understand or too heavy of a sleeper Sans knew Papyrus was since young. That's okay though, he didn't mind. In fact, Sans preferred if his brother didn't hear any of it at all. After all, most of his pleas were for the black mist that consistently hogged his brother.

"please..anything, i'll do anything. just keep don't hurt him. i don't care about anything else, i don't care i need to sacrifice myself so _please_ , keep Papyrus safe and sound," Sans didn't even know whether it was around his brother at that moment but he still vomited everything out. He just needed to let it out, and out it all went. Sans sobbed his soul out and didn't stop, he couldn't stop. It just ached and ached and _ached_ , he was a mess and he knew he was-until he wasn't. The black mist burst out from beneath his brother and flew towards him, wrapping him in the same protective veil it had for his brother and Sans felt safe, safesafe _safe_ and comfort. It stayed like that until he finally calmed down enough to slowly drift off to sleep right there and then, the voice in his mind cooing him a lullaby and guiding him away from another nightmare...

Since then, the mist didn't retreat from Sans' approach, it'd wriggle its tendrils in a makeshift 'hello' instead, before slithering back underneath Papyrus' shadow for Sans to take over to care of his brother. It was a silent agreement Sans could understand and didn't have any qualms in reciprocating.

Sans never did try to Check on it anymore. Although he does feel like he's being watched from the shadows every now and then.

Anomalies were still a thing that popped up whenever they could around him and the house. If the vanishing wall, the black mist, emoji and fire wasn't enough, now there were toys, _m_ _ultiple of them_. Sans still doesn't know how and where they came from. One moment he was sitting on his couch in the living room, tiredly feeding his baby brother a milk bottle and then in the next, _the whole living room was filled to the brim with toys_.

What the fuck.

Sans could've sworn he didn't even blink. He didn't blink and yet here they were, all strewn about without a care on the coffee table, at the stairs, _in the fucking_ _kitchen-_ the kitchen is flooding. Goddammit, why the hell is the kitchen flooding??? Was he going to find another, whatever the hell an emoji was again in the sink? He sure better fucking hopes not. Else he's going to hate-swallow it whole and haphazardly crunch on it.

_Brutal and petty, a nice combination._

Sans opted to ignore the voice and got to cleaning up _again._ Quickly moving his brother to the couch and using blue magic to both, feed Papyrus and push the toys that were dry away from the kitchen. He arranged them by texture; the softer toys (such as teddy bears and rabbits) were sent into his brother's room for safekeeping while the harder ones (building blocks and puzzles) were placed temporarily on the second floor and the stairs, he'll thoroughly go through them at a later date.

_Aren't you worried that the toys might've hidden something dangerous for Papyrus?_

"if there were, that black mist over there would've reacted."

The voice hummed approvingly.

_Using that skull of yours I see, smart._

Toys that were dampened by the flood from the kitchen were placed in a pile near the house's door for cleaning later while Sans briskly made himself float around the kitchen to search for a leak or an emoji or- _something_. And when he found none, he promptly just went to drain the water away and waited.

And waited.

....aaaannd waited.

...

Still waiting..!

...

..

.

_It's not getting lesser._

"yeah-i can see that!"

In fact, Sans could see it even increasing in volume, leaking and further pouring into the living room, soaking the carpets and creeping nearer to the couch his brother's currently finishing his milk. Sans panicked even more when the drain decided to start jamming it up with..jam. Where the jam came from, Sans doesn't know and doesn't _want_ to know. He'd make a joke out of it, too, if the water hadn't decided to slosh and _puke back out from the fucking drain_. Sans shriek and darted-er well, pulled himself out of the kitchen just in the nick of time before he could be covered in water _and jam_ and quickly shoved as much of the wet toys he could into his dimensional box before-did the emoji in his box changed into just a crying emoji??

*** "Crying Emoji" - Heals a random number of HP per bite/drink (20 max)**

***Its tears are filled with healing properties**.

Fucking-nevermind that for now. Sans needed to get out of the house with his brother before the place floods with the two of them in it. On the move once more, Sans grabbed his brother and burst through the front door with the water not far behind them. It flowed and flowed, flowed out of the house and onto the wooden steps, down to the snow and down behind his house where the river was, much to Sans relief. They had to stay in the inn again for the next two days straight after that for the water to finally give way and completely drain out. It was ridiculous. And by the end of the third night, his house was thoroughly cleaned with the help of the town (bless them) and his house smelling faintly like strawberry jam.

He didn't even like strawberry.

Sans' just glad that the water at least didn't start flooding into the town. That would've been true chaos that he really didn't feel like dealing after that flood-in.

Heh.

There were better days, days that he didn't have to deal with all of this unexplained nonsense but this was fine, too. It was better than dealing with morals and homicide. Sans just hopes that things stayed like this and wouldn't get _too_ out of hand while he waits for the kid to show up again and answer his questions.

If it's the kid this time round anyway.

* * *

Everything just got even worse. Or maybe things were going according to the original timeline?

Who knows.

"you know, you didn't need to do this," Sans watched the scene in front of him unfold, like a film recorder playing out a movie for him and him only. Cracks and fractures littered the vision he saw, some probably from the hazy dream or maybe just the bone shards that occasionally flew past his cheek when they splinter from pressure, Sans isn't sure. What he was sure, was the white space he's currently taking refuge in as he watched a substitute of himself fighting the brown-haired child within his dreamt Judgement Hall. "i'd still be perfectly fine without being pulled out from the nightmare."

The figure beside him rolled their eyes, taking a seat beside Sans without even batting an eye. Sans did so the same, not sparing them a glance in favour of watching himself get stabbed over and over again by the knife that that _thing_ held, numb to the actual interaction between each phantom injury he's receiving.

 _And let you deteriorate further each day from the mental strain they've been giving every single day?  
_ _I knew your standard was low but I didn't think it was this low, at least take me out to dinner first._

Sans chuckled, his eye lights flickering towards the fuzzy figure before darting back to the scene in front of him again. It stuttered and blinked, indicating the end of its performance before whirling up again, switching into an entirely new set, stage, casting and all. Sans couldn't help but look away when he recognised the following scene that his horrid dreams were trying to reenact for him once again to torment him.

_'I BELIEVE IN YOU!'_

Papyrus's sweet, yet sad voice echoed out in a white blur, causing Sans' eyesocket to fall shut into a grimace with a loud 'clink'.

The nightmares had started when Sans found his first job as a mini-server at Grillbys, the old ball of fire pitied the small skeleton without a father and a brother to care for and gave him work to pay for their needs. Sans didn't need the pity but he took whatever he could either ways. A job is a job after all and he can't really refuse it when he's dire for money he doesn't have. 

It was alright at first, just some night terror once in a while was tolerable if it meant putting food on the table and extra allowance was a plus. The town still helped but he was starting to feel a little too guilty to take advantage of their kindness so he tried to lessen any burdens he could and kept it to himself. Time passed and he tried his luck with another job at either the Capital or Hotland. Minimal pay was good and all for basic daily needs but it won't be enough when he had to take account of his brother's interest when he started to grow up a little more. He'd know, he'd already experience it once. 

And by luck, he did find a new job! A better and much higher paid job, in fact, a job as the Royal fucking Scientist. It must be bad luck really, not good luck. He didn't want to deal with the baggage that came along with being a scientist again but it was the only job _available_ that no one wants to apply for ~~except for Alphys that is~~. Sans couldn't tell whether this was the universe trying to fuck him over or, as the voice reasoned;

_It's to realign with the original past, sans._

Either way, he took it up again and, well Sans wasn't going to lie. Becoming the Royal scientist again stresses the hell out of him and that made the nightmares a whole lot worse.

Sans harshly breathed out through his nasal, hearing the last moments of his brother fade away into the depths of the snow before the scene changes again, this time around to the days where he once up top, living a life he thought he could never with his brother and a sky so wide it made his cheeks hurt. A time no longer he's sure will ever happen.

_Just let me take over and at least ease your dreams sometimes alright?  
It's the least I can do for you._

Sans sighed, leaning against the creeping touch of arms wrapping around his waist and closed his eyelids once more, feeling too tired, too weary.

"..alright."

The sound of another scene starting up once more penetrated his ears.

* * *

After a couple of decades later, King Asgore saw Sans' unique potential and gave him the title of the Judge.

The nightmares only got worse.

* * *

Screaming.

Raw screaming and clawing at his skull was all he could hear and feel now whenever he slept.  
He couldn't stand it anymore.

The voice took it upon themselves to completely whisp Sans away and shield him from the terrors.  
It doesn't matter anymore.

* * *

_So, how are you feeling? :D_

"feeling like shit, thanks."

Sans groaned, ignoring the odd thing the voice did again and flopped down into the snow. He was content to just lay down there and watch his brother play knight with the black mist amongst the vast pinewood trees. It wriggled and spun around Papyrus like an eager snake, keeping up with his brother's energetic movements as they fought toe to toe in a battle of magic, bones and tendrils. They sway like the fleeting wind, dance around each other in a set of tango steps; never too rough, yet never to gentle. Papyrus' grown a good three to five foot tall since he was baby bones and that just made their song and dance even more powerful, like they were meant for each other. They'd fight and protect each other with their souls on the line-and that'd make them a really good team. Sans' eyes soften. He's glad that there's someone else that could fully protect his brother if he couldn't.

" 'still don't really understand why i'd need to do this. 's not like i'll need more power than i had during my fight with that thing," It would be nice, to train and practice more on his magic. It feels exhilarating to hone and strengthen his power, make them stronger, precise and controlled. But if that thing was gonna reset till it succeeded in breaking him and his sharp, deadly and killer magic, then he doesn't really see the point in building it up any further. Sans prefers if his brother was the one training instead. After all, his aspiration was much bigger than his own sad sack of bones. Good thing he got to train with the mists while he laid on the snow. It's oddly powdery for some reason though, and it's making him a little woozy.

Sans could practically feel the voice's exasperation when they choked down a strangled noise.

_It'll help with the nightmares and expel any excess magic built-up in you, a healthy body means a healthy mind, sans.  
No harm in strengthening your magic control._

Sans groans again, staring up into the dark cavern ceiling. He really doesn't want to.

_Come on sans, it'll do you more good than harm._

He really doesn't.

_Please?_

Sans thinks the powdery snow feels much comfier than increasing his ATK.

_If not for yourself then for Papyrus. More control on your magic'll get you a better grip of your sense as well._   
_Maybe you'll even be able to 'see' me in your mind too._

"alright fine, you got me. i'll go train," Sans sighed and got to moving, popping a few joints while he stood and stretched.

_Good._

* * *

Sans quit his job as the Royal Scientist once more and settled with his old sentry (multiple) posts. Alphys begged him to stay but he didn't take no for an answer and disappeared, leaving Alphys all the work he has mandatorily made to match up with his past work ethics and creations.

The nightmares persisted.

The voice pulled him away as usual and comforted him within the white space within his dreamscape. He could almost see the outline of a α̸̞͖̝̦̩͕͇̘͒̎́͒̿̑̕͜κ̴̢̟͖̩̯͉̏̏͂̽̕ί̷̢̙̺̥̮̺̠̬̞͂ἀ̵̛͙͔͙̥̻͉̹̞̿́͛̍ν̵̢̖͔̬̗̗͂υ̴̛̞̝̣̝͓͓̮̳̎̃̏͜γ̷̢̢̣̱̲͔͉͙̎̌̈́̌͋̿͐͝ within the white shimmer and shine of the voice's figure.

He wonders if he'll be able to see more as time goes by.

* * *

Flowey's gone.

_More like not playing with the power of Reset and literally doing nothing malicious other than hanging out with your brother._

Sans rolled his eye lights, staring straight into the snowy forest in front of his sentry posts.

_oh shut it, i'm trying to monologue in my own head._

_Right._

Sans could _feel_ the voice roll their eyes as well, tossing the same sass he did to them every once in a while. Sans chuckled in return, oddly happy that he's starting to understand and feel the voice's movement and posture within his own mindscape.

It was odd but not unwelcomed.

He's glad that the extra meditation he's added to the regime has helped increase his magic potential.

* * *

A promise was made, between a voice behind a Ruins' door and another outside the snowy forest.

"If a human ever comes through this door... could you please, please promise me something?" Sans leaned against the Ruins door with a quiet sigh, eye lights glazed with memories of a good past of jokes and laughs. "Watch over them, and protect them, will you not?"

Sans shut his eyes and let the darkness of his vision hold him.

"sure."

It was an empty promise. Both Sans and the voice knew that but they weren't going to say anything.

No.

What the Caretaker of the Ruins doesn't know, won't hurt her.

* * *

"OH MY STARS BROTHER!"

"yeah bro?"

"IS..IS THIS FOR ME??!"

Sans peeked out from an eyesocket and snuggled further into his hoodie, making himself as comfortable as he could on that lumpy icky green couch of his. He watched his brother stand tall and proud in his new 'battle body', dawning that familiar red scarf Sans' come to love and hate.

_Huh, you've slightly altered his costume._

_battle body_ , Sans warned but the voice was right nonetheless. The black skin-tight top and leggings hugging his bones were thicker and much flexible to both Papyrus' structure and movements. The upper white armour was both sturdy and long, covering his ribcage well and his arms while the previous bottom blue shorts had turned into a magnificent double pieced pants. They were both detachable and attachable through a harness Sans' personally created for his brother. The scarf that settled against his brother's neck was thicker too ~~to protect his neck~~ and the ends of it were longer than his old scarf was, much to the physical glee to the mist. It quickly spun around the scarf and went under them to hide from prying eyes, much to Sans' delight. The mist'll be a good surprise trump card for his brother's protection if the situation arises. Sans approves.

"yup, hope you like it paps."

"OH, I DO BROTHER I DO! EVEN BLACKY LIKE IT TOO! THANK YOU!!"

Papyrus picked him up with ease and twirled him around in circles before smooshing him with a bone-crushing hug. 'Blacky' came out to give an appreciative pat on the back as well before slinking back underneath the scarf. The voice cooed, Sans chuckled.

"you welcome bro."

* * *

The anomalies were getting annoying. While he appreciates some of the odder things that have come through-mainly the toys, Papyrus loved the constant flow of toys to dust-he doesn't appreciate the rest. He feels like he was getting pranked, was _he_ getting pranked?? The strawberry jam he found in his jacket's pockets the other says so. Sans shuddered into his sentry post, remembering the nasty feeling he had when he shoved his fingers inside his pockets.

The vanishing wall came back again as well, only with much more vigour this time round. Anything that Sans mentally counted to four sides would have the last of its fourth surface area disappear immediately in a blink of an eye, only for it reinstate itself when convenient or the next second after. Sans thinks the number of times he had to do a doubletake could fucking buy him a yacht in a lake somewhere far away on the surface-as the voice would put it, laughing at his miserable irritation.

Wow, thanks. That really helped with Sans' issues.

_Why not just ask?_

"as if that's going to work."

_Hey, don't knock it till you try it._

Sans dramatically sighed, staring at what used to be the sidewall of his sentry post. It's just all snow poff and ketchup packets now.

"alright fine."

Sans made a show out of it, much to the voice amusement and slowly got to his knees. He clasped his hands together and sadly looked up to the roof of his post as if he could see something, or someone else right above him. He made his eye lights grow big and wide, bright and shiny, and pulled out his most 'kicked puppy' expression he could muster and became to _pray_.

"oh please whomever or whatever you are, could you please stop fucking around with me? i'll do anything holy you'd asked for. i'll read, eat, live and breathe that nasty human Christian bible i've heard once on the surface and even consume each page and letter-"

As if hearing enough bullshit spewing out from Sans' teeth, the sentry popped right back and never went away again when he counted to four once more.

"huh."

Sans quickly checked the state of his jacket's pocket; clean, not a speck of stain that the jam had created when it first appeared from within.

" _huh.._ "

The voice snorted and played along, replying in a fake sagely wisdom.

_Ask and you shall receive._

* * *

As Sans turns into the equivalent human age of twenty-three, Sans couldn't help but start to feel apprehensive. The child was late, the human child was two normal years' late. Perhaps there was a slight error, a glitch for him to travel back way into his childhood years-that was fine, but the child was _never_ late. It wasn't normal, they had never lagged through anything for each run. Everything was precise, in what they say, do, _killed_ and reset. Timing was never an outliner either. So for them to arrive behind schedule was unusual, it made Sans very jittery.

_At this point, is anything really normal?_

"i don't need an existential crisis right now if you haven't noticed, bud."

Sans drummed his fingers against the sentry's counter and stared into the direction of the Ruins. Another side of his sentry wall has disappeared again but he didn't let that stop him from narrowing his eyes further for any subtle movements or sound. Increasing his magic sensitivity was the best thing the voice had convinced his lazy ass to do.

_Don't worry, they'll come._

" 'nd what makes you say that?"

The voice didn't answer but Sans could feel them shuffle about, changing positions every now and then before stopping completely once again. Sans waited for their reply with a silent plea, hoping that they'd give him a reasonable answer but all that came out after a minute or two was a much firmer and hard tone Sans was not used to hearing from them.

_Don't worry, they'll definitely come._

* * *

"-you know, i'm beginning to think that you aren't real."

_And that took you what, a couple of hundreds of years to finally come to that conclusion?_

Sans shrugged, tapping his fingers in a familiar rhythm against the sentry post's counter.

_Ta-ta-ta-tap._

_Ta-ta-ta-tap._

"patient is virtue."

_Right, and I'm a god._

Sans chuckled, practically feeling the voice's roll of eyes and sarcasm. He took a swig at the ketchup bottle he held with his other hand and replied back with practised ease, drumming his fingers along with a little more edge than usual.

"if you aren't just a figment of my imagination, then what are you?"

_I thought we went over this over a couple of thousands of times within the centuries already.  
Haven't I shown enough evidence to not warrant that doubt anymore?_

"only around the topics _i_ know about. you never went more than that."

_..sans, I've already discussed and confirmed your suspicion on the multiverse theory with multiple evidence and counterpoints. i've even answered questions on the vast knowledge on space and time continuum, and the speculations of the void. None of which has anything to do with your own expertise of quantum physics and magic science.  
_

"that doesn't count," Sans snapped, growling. "and you know it."

His back was arched, shoulders bent, body stiff as a rock and bared his fangs out into the empty depths of white snow and pine trees surrounding him. Sans didn't mean to lash out, he really didn't. He was just too agitated and didn't know how to release it other than taking out on something that he still didn't have a full understanding of.

"how'd i know whether it isn't just this thick skull of mine trying to rationalise everything that's happened to save whatever sanity i have left? you should know how i work most of the time by now. how can i be sure you aren't something i made up?"

Sans' has turned into the equivalent human age of 25, that means the human was _more_ than a _couple of years_ late by now and that made him even more temperamental than usual. He hated it, he hated how things were unravelling out of his control now. And the fact that another few hundreds of years had passed without the last fallen kid in sight made him want to physically smash something, or puke, or maybe both. He can't even tell if the kid decided to _not_ fall into the underground anymore and just lived life on the surface. Of course, he couldn't, it wasn't as if he could _physically_ be above and check for himself. If time still flowed with the original scenarios and he hadn't fucked up too bad, he's sure they'd be dead by now, corpse all rotten and eaten by whatever nasty bugs and critters that eat the unmoving and the unliving. The voice should've understood where he's coming from, right? The two of them have been together for _centuries_ and this was one of the first time he's really got frustrated and rebuked back in anger. Perhaps they knew, since they lived in Sans' mind for a long time now and if the voice knew, they surely didn't show.

Instead, hostility was met with hostility and the voice responded in turn, their sweet, sweet purr turned into a venomous rumble of anger and frustration. Sans would be lying if he didn't think it still sounded so nice as it reverberated in his head.

_Touché.  
Even then, I doubt you'd understand if I told you anything more.  
If you're still doubting me after so many years, what makes you so sure you'd understand my words?  
_

"try me."

The voice sighed roughly and Sans could feel them pinch the bridge of their nose in frustration.

_Fine then. How about a joke you've never heard before? Since you love them so much, we'll go with that._

Sans breathed and force himself to relax, counting to ten before giving a quick, appreciative smile. A joke he hasn't heard before huh? Well, he'd like to see how that'd help him rethink his life.

"alright, do your worse."

The voice cruelly chuckled. He could feel them sit and support their head with an elbow on their knee and a hand under the chin.

_You._

Bones twisted against each other in confusion, creating creases in-between nasal bone and (bone)brows. He could feel the amused grin in their words.

"wh-"

Sans didn't get to finish his words.

The Ruins' door creaked opened, echoing its age and weight into the snowy forest he rests in. His skull snapped towards it like a rubberband and stared. He definitely got whiplashed but pointedly ignored it, expanding his magic around his surroundings instead to increase his senses. Sans narrowed his eyesockets at the snowy pine tree path, sharpening his white pinpricks into slits as his non-existent ears picked up deliberately quiet breaths of air. Sans huffed and closed his eyesocket for a quick second, concentrating on the vibration of magical particles in the air to check for any kind of physical movement.

Spoiler alert; he did.

Sans blinked his eyes back open and squinted further, watching a familiar faint bob of brown exiting the doors with a splotch of yellow.

With another echoing creak, the twin doors shut behind the child, finally signalling the start of another run.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BETA has been detected.  
> Download updatable content?  
> *Yes
> 
> Download in progress...  
> ..  
> Loading..  
> ...  
> Loading...  
> ....  
> Ding.  
> Download has been completed.
> 
> .
> 
> Error  
> Error
> 
> Unable to recognise BETA programme.  
> Begin uninstallation.
> 
> Error  
> Error  
> Unable to uninstall.  
> BETA will now begin running.
> 
> (We now have a beta reader, yay! Let's hope my grammar might be better now and get more content out each chapter! whoop)


	5. It's Free Real Estate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *the author is sweating a little with Beta breathing down their neck.

Sans stalked Frisk through the woods like a predator from above, back hunched and claws dug deep into the branch he was perched at. The tips of his phalange were morphed to meet his animalistic desire to _prey_ on the child he watched from high against the tree, slit pinpricks never waving from the jittery small figure from before. 

_Looks like the child has finally come ey Sans? Best to be on guard though just in case. >.>_

He was. In fact, Sans was very tense, his grin was tight and the wood under him creaked with pressure from his grip yet he had never felt this calm since the day his brother and he got transferred back into the past. Frisk was still the same. At least, they still looked the same from the previous run, albeit smaller than he thought they would be since the last time he saw them. Sans couldn’t tell whether this stagnancy was due to the same anomalies that have been plaguing his life so far, or just another ability that the kid had come to develop or had that he wasn’t aware of until now. Perhaps it could be neither and it was just his own wrapped senses that towered over his vision with the amount of magic he was holding back, ravenous and threatening to spill from his very being. It swirled and it swirled from within and out around him, lashing impatiently for blood, blood, _blood_. Retribution for the agony and sorrow caused by that small _bug_ and their disgusting skill to manipulate and bend time.

_What are you, a fucking animal? A dog?_

Sans was in fact, not a fucking animal, let alone a dog. It has been centuries since the last reset and he had come to terms (if not willingly) with how helpless he was under the child’s power, not then not ever. Even with the given extra time these past few centuries tp prep, he was still restricted by the flow of time and couldn’t change the outcome he desired for both his brother and him. All he could really do was to tweak some things here and there without disrupting the original past and move on. His magic however, wasn’t satisfied for the things it has endured, what his SOUL still remembers like a scar against rotten flesh and skin. It wants to snarl and bite, tear into that little, _little_ body of that human-no, no that _thing_. Tear it from limb to limb, flesh to flesh, bone to blood, _ashes to ashes_. And once finally done, burn them to dust and trample it as it did to his very own brother. 

_please don't kill the kid on sight i beg of you_

Sans at least, wasn't going to. He has much more control over his magic to not warrant those wishes. He didn’t spend all those precious time he could’ve slept in training his abilities just to go on a frenzy _dammit_ , much less do the conga dance with the killer via bone version. It would definitely be entertaining to watch the kid bob and weave through deadly bone matter with a low starting L.O.V.E but he has enough restraint and drilled enough obedience into his own magic to obey. 

In spite of that, Sans couldn’t really help his bodily reaction when his eyelights finally landed and registered the imp leaving the Ruins’ doors. It’s practically ingrained in his instinct from all the genocidal shopping spree they’ve accumulated. 

Did they think they’d get a special slaughter discount for impressing him with how much karma they’ve racked up?

Sans glared harder and let a growl slip from his throat, cracking the branch he sat on with his hind legs.

Never in his existence ever.

Sans watched the kid jump six-foot into the air at the echoing reverb and whip around, eyes wide and frantic in the search for where the low guttural rumble had come from. Their pupils were blown fully with fear and darted around the pine trees that surround their entirely. Sans couldn’t help but be filled with utter _glee_ when their eyes skimmed past his crouched figure only to snap back to those glowing pinpricks of his within the trees for a split second before teleporting to another hidden spot to scrutinize the child. They gave out a quick squeak and tried to scamper away as fast as they could, stumbling and nearly tripping over the thick and heavy dark branch that lay mockingly in the middle of the snowy pathway. Sans snorted a little, slightly amused. The kid was making it too easy for him to scare them. It made them look so, _so_ small, frail like a purple bunny in a blanket snow white. A perfect target to be _hunted_ by the wolves, aka him. It didn’t make it any better for the kid either when they’re trying so hard to make themselves look even tinier than they actually are. With hunched shoulders and back, they hugged themselves as firmly inwards as they could into their purple sweater and ducked their head low. Sans almost couldn’t believe that that kid right down there, was a _dirty brother killer_.

Almost.

It made Sans suspicious. What were they planning to do, to act like a damsel in distress? They clearly aren’t one. Oh no, they were far from the innocence he knows about. Were they trying to mock him then? Sans’ fingers twitch at the thought. They must be, after so many rounds of slaughter, how could they ever be actually afraid with so many headcounts? They really had the guts. Truly, they have no shame, do they? Fine then, two can play that game.

Disgruntled, Sans flick his wrist and flicked it hard, letting his gravitational magic shoot away eagerly from him with ease and pressurise the branch the child had tripped over. It creaked under the weight and gave way after a split second later, completely obliterating the brunch into splinters with one swift _crunch_. The kid jumped again, losing their footing but didn’t turn back, opting to quicken their pace with throaty breaths and glossy eyes. Sans followed along through the shadows, prowling with steady _want_ with every port. He made sure each step was made with purpose, every sound made with the crunch of the snow, to the creak of tree barks to freak the child even more into a relentless panic.

It became really tempting to kill them right off the bat right there and then the more Sans watched the kid speedwalk closer and closer to the bridge connecting to Snowdin, their breath spiking even more when they realised that they couldn't actually walk over the wooden lane with the firm and steady gate in the way. Sans’ grinned twitch, eye lights trailing their helpless form as they slowed to a hesitant halt in front of the looming wooden structure.

The kid didn’t really think he’d let them pass through so easily, did they? 

No way in hell. If Sans could only interfere as subtle he was told he could, he was damn sure he was gonna try to still fuck the kid over, even if it’s indirectly. That’s right, that cool old gate once a timeline ago was no longer there. Instead, an even cooler and secured gate was in its place. Its once gaping bars were now narrowly spaced, ensuring little to no escape between each sturdy bars, not even the smallest child would be able to squeeze through. No one could pass through unless they had the key to unlock the smaller door built within the gate (or teleport like Sans could from one sport to another). Papyrus had done a wonderful job, really. When he first suggested to build one to, ‘ensure the capture of the humans from the Ruins’, Sans had offered to give him tips and tricks on constructing an efficient ‘trap’. Papyrus was ecstatic, exclaiming that he’ll create the greatest trap in all monster history. Sans believed him. And with Blacky on his brother side, they did a fantastic job with the final construction. He was super proud.

Sans’ eyes lingered lovingly at the structure before slinking back to the child standing idly in front of it, eye socket narrowed. He watched their expression flicker from confusion, shock and then settled with horror, their face twisting into something unpleasant he couldn’t grace with a description. But they didn’t move from their spot. They didn’t try to figure out how to unlock the gate to run through, away from being hunted down by the pinpricks prior within the woods and just stood there, shifting their weight from one leg to another. Sans was baffled. It’d be a different story entirely if they merely stood still with dust wafting around them, dead to the world, stone-cold to the SOUL. But Sans could tell they were scared and nervous. The kid kept looking around, as if waiting for something, something around the sea of pine and snow to come out and-oh. Oh stars, Sans understands now. The kid was waiting for him to show up! To greet them, to tell a joke, to, to be _whoopie cushioned_. Sans inwardly snorted, watching the kid start to fidget more the longer nothing happened. How hilarious is that?

Did the kid not like change, as subtly noticeable as they were? Is that why they decided not to run for the hills and stand there, bare and defenceless against the clearly angry as _fuck_ skeleton right behind them? That’s so _funny_ , especially how hypocritical it was for them to repeat the same song and dance over and over again, resetting time _just_ to see what had changed in between their choices and kills. So what, they liked subtle changes but not entirely sudden ones? Sans felt his metaphorical blood boil.

Sans was really considering killing them now. It really didn’t matter, does it? They could just Reset again and come back anyway, so kill them once was nothing. Sans feels his magic swirl in anticipation, approving his thoughts and intent. Yes..that’s right, what would one little petty revenge hurt? Just one, small Karma retribution wouldn’t hurt no one-except the kid of course. Everything will be cleaned up, lickety-split with just one LOAD, all evidence of a murder would be erased and no one would remember, just him and the kid themselves. And since the kid seemed to dislike things going off script, wouldn’t it be immensely satisfying to lure them into a false sense of security before blasting them into oblivion?

Sans’ eye light shone at the thought.

Yes, that's it.  
What a wonderful idea.

In fact, it's such a nice, _beautiful_ plan that he thinks he'll do just that. It's simply too good of a chance to pass it up if the kid was desperate for some continuity ~~just as he was when he was living through the centuries without them~~.

And hey, who is he to say no to giving them something different after everything? 

Calling upon his overzealous magic once more, Sans turned the kid’s SOUL to blue, forcing them to stay still without squirming. They froze upon impact, gasping at the sudden pressure within their chest that squeezed them nicely within their spot. Sans let his gaze hang back at their quivering lips before teleporting down a little ways behind where the kid stood, ready to approach. Sans made sure the kid could hear him like prior, every step he took was slow and deliberate, pressing his pink slippers down into the snow for that lovely crisp crunch. He made sure to take his own sweet time to get to the kid, letting them know that they were undoubtedly prey, food that he, a venerer, was merely playing with. And Sans knew they understood the more closer he got, his nasal bone was tickling from the heavy stench of fear and anxiousness radiating off their body. Nevertheless, the kid steeled themselves right as Sans got behind them and turned, meeting his outstretched hand with their own small one once he released his magic from their SOUL.

_Ppffffffttt..._

The whoopie cushion in his hand let out a long boisterous squawk between the two of them, its whiny raspberry reverberating against the dark wooden trees. 

Sans watched the kid tense against the slight touch between the two of them, wary. They scanned his face as he did to theirs, taking in inch and every one of the other’s expressions and movements, but neither gave any. Sans merely let his grin stretch further up his cheekbones, eye sockets crinkling and slit eyelights forced to soft white dots. The two stood there, staring at each other unwaveringly even as the whoopie cushion finally started to give and died out around them. Both held their gaze, long and strong until the kid eventually lost their bravery and looked away, all of their nerves coming back full force once they realised that Sans wasn’t going to start speaking like he normally does. They tried to pull back, giving a quick tug against Sans’ grip but it didn’t budge. Sans’ firm hold only seemed to tighten instead, his eyelights shifting back into those slits they’ve seen briefly chasing them previously and a grin so tight it that it could potentially snap a rib. That, and the entirety of the situation finally crashing on them, made the kid start to visibly panic there and there. They started to hyperventilate, breath thick and fast with glossy eyes and unshed tears. And yet even then, they persisted in staying still, hand lax and at ease as they looked down, letting their hair cover their face up. It was obvious what the kid wanted, stubbornly so. But Sans was equally stubborn to not give it to them either. So he took this time to meticulously scrutinize them even further.

It was odd, now that Sans had a better look. The kid he vaguely remembered was..messy, even before they started slaughtering people. Brown strands of hair sprawled all about their head and face, sometimes even entirely covering their eyes and tickling their little nose. Their untidy bob of hair was choppily cut, uneven ends split apart while some knotted and others curled against that small head of theirs. Their striped sky blue sweater was thick yet shabby, knitted hazardously with patches of similar coloured fabric that's easily visible if squinted. Their blue pants and slip-on brown footwear were poor in condition, never comfortable when Sans watched them trudged on in any run whatsoever. They'd shift and pull against their flimsy attire, their face always twisted in a hassle with grimy skin and smudged dirt. Cuts and scrapes dawned on their skin like sunshine, often along with bruises and bandages that never seemed fresh and changed. They never seemed bothered by them though, even when they acquired new ones during their trip within the underground. Sans pitied them at first, and he still did sometimes during pacifists routes but at times he thinks they deserve such horrible quality clothes for their shitty attitude in those genocides routes. The kid that he once knew however, wasn't the same one as the child that stood in front of him. As much as he wanted to deny it, the kid unwittingly standing nerved wrecked like a train was clean, almost too clean. Neatly bobbed hair cut with fringes evenly trimmed and cared for sat snugly on that head of theirs, the clothes that they wore now were better in quality, despite their similar appearances. Thick navy and soft purple striped sweater laid warm against that small body of theirs, alongside another black inner turtleneck peeking out of it. Brown shorts with black tights replaced those ghastly lonesome pants prior, along with leather-made dark brown combat boots to switch away from that slip-on footwear. What's even interesting was the yellow backpack they carried on their back as well. The kid had never previously done so in any of the runs, let alone carry any extra physical items that they didn't need other than equipable weapons and defence. Anything else could be placed inside the dimensional box that he knew the kid had from Toriel. So why was there a need for a physical bag? Of course, the cellphone's dimensional box could fit so many and Sans might be overthinking at this point of time, but the kid never does anything extra unless curious, needed or for a purpose. A purpose Sans wasn't sure whether he'd like or not if he ever finds it. 

So he let his eyelights continue to wander the parts of the bag he could see; zips, strings, pockets and a rope with a hook... Why the hell did the kid need a rope with a hook? There's literally nothing they could use that for to climb up or down other than-oh, oh so that's the reason. Sans understood. There was once when the child and he had had a personal 'heart-to-heart' during one of his final attempts to stop them from completing another genocide run. The kid had waited for Sans to finally doze off for his last turn as usual and sat down, waiting. Waiting once more for him to finally drift off to dreamland-only for them to continue to sit there and stare, waiting for him to awake from his slumber once more. Sans caught on pretty quickly once he really woke up and realised that one; he wasn't dead. Two; he couldn't sense any movement from the kid even with his sockets closed. They hadn't played dirty as usual and just stayed where they were, still as the night and prowling eyes like a hungry wolf. Even then, Sans simply continued to 'sleep' and pretended the kid wasn't there. If they were determined to see what would happen if they stayed there long enough, then he was pretty patient enough to wait it out. That is, until the third day rolled in. Determination ruled over Patience and Sans eventually gave in with a shrug and asked or well, told that they were ' _heh, pretty determined_ '. They eerily smiled at Sans and told him that they were simply curious. And amid whatever insanity (mainly lack of sleep, ironically) the two were high off on, the two eventually sat side to side and talked. And when Sans mean talk, he meant that the child solely spoke tales on the time between their entrance to the underground and before that. He couldn't really remember much but he was certain that they told him of the deep hole they tripped and fell in before stumbling upon the underground, how it angered them to no end that they fell simply because of a ' _goddamn vine of all things_ '.

"couldn't you just RESET right to the very beginning before you fell?"

That bob of messy hair simply shifted from left to right slowly, as if sad, before Sans felt an excruciating pain between his spine and skull, the echo of crack and pop were the only two indicators that his skull had been detached from the rest of his body. The child proceeds to hold his head like a pretty gem and sighed softly, their red eyes shone brightly as they caress the side of his cheekbone before placing him on their lap securely, letting him watch his own oranged tinted illuminated body fall and dust away along the marble floor with them. Sans watch them reach out in front of his eye sockets and sign back to him slowly as his vision finally started to darken and spot, ' _If I could, I would've already done so.'_

Sick bastard.

It did make him wonder though, if time went far back into the past, wouldn't that mean that the kid had gone back long before they tripped and fell? Why the hell were they back here again? They've already explicitly expressed their immense hatred for the underground and yet here they were, back under Mount. Ebott where the sky couldn't ever reach unless the whole damn rock collapses into itself. Hell, it even looked like they were _prepared_ to come down into the underground this time around with all those tools they've gathered for the hike up the mountain, the fall and the cold weather right past after the Ruins. It made sense why they were cleaner this time around as well, less if not completely omitted of any injuries and bandages. Yet he couldn't understand, why now? After centuries, and why so small and oh so well-packed for the trip at that? He wouldn't be surprised if he were to find a parachute in that bag of theirs either at this point.

It was kinda stupid really. These little things gave him what little hope he had left for the future, what little hope he thought the Frisk that he knew was back and kicking, ready to gather all their friends and family one final time and bring them out of the underground, away from that unforgettable yet fleeting _thing_ that gave Monsterkind a taste of despair and agony. It'd be convenient to think that the kid came back, and whatever that other little shit he had been dealing with was gone. But was it really bad to wish that his Frisk was back? That child, full of childish playfulness and eager will to help them, despite obvious fear that they had prior to the monsters around them. The child that's in front of them was similar to that Frisk once upon a time; timid, anxious and scared yet steadfast and brave. Sans stared at them a little longer.

Perhaps, it was okay to hope for a bit, even if it's just a little, tiny one?

And then...the kid took a breath and looked back up with a familiar determination he hasn’t seen since they first popped up from the Ruins. Their gold, ember eyes shone, shone with a glint similar yet different from those red, _blood-red_ eyes Sans used to see residing in those pretty, pretty marbles. It just made his body more irritated with itch, his bones creaking in want. Sans couldn’t say he wasn’t objecting it at this point either, all those nice thoughts just flew away, faded and burnt into nothing but black, black, _black_.

_imma kill it._

Sans feels the voice’s exasperation start to grow.

_No._

_imma kill the bitch._

_I didn’t teach you memes just for you to use it back on me._

_bitch’s gonna get dunked._

_NO._

Sans forgo paying attention to the kid in his grasp and argued back to the voice in his head, annoyed and unaware that the child had gone even more rigid from his tightening grip. They darted their eyes at the air around them in a panic for something, brighten and then proceeded to fumble around in front of them with their other hand with great haste, as if searching for something within a space that Sans couldn’t see with his naked eyelights-not that he would've known either way, he was too preoccupied with the brimming anger of not his own flooding his head like a storm.

_You can’t just kill them right at the beginning sans!_

_i can and i will._

_No, you can’t._

_watch me._

Sans began drawing out his magic, letting it accumulate and swirl around him. It prickled the air surrounding him like static and he couldn't help but grin gleefully as he watched the kid in front of him freeze at the smell of ozone, golden tinted eyes wide with a shivering fear of what the scent entails. But as fast as his magic had gathered, the voice pushed through and overwhelmed Sans' consciousness, dissipating the magic from his grasp as soon as he reached out into the void to summon his blaster. Sans' concentration broke, his eyelights flicking and hazy from the loud warm hum that washed over him whenever the voice tried to soothe him. Sans grunted out in response, turning his head away from the kid in discontent and focused on regaining his foot, lessening the incoming headache pounding at his skull from the sudden change of emotions. The voice sighed softly, retreating back and whispered an apology.

_Look..if you're angry over our conversation earlier, we can talk it out later once we've dealt with the kid, alright sans? They haven't done anything to warrant a confrontation, let alone a kill...yet.  
See? Their clothes are clean, not a speck of dust to be seen; dust-free.  
_

The voice gently gestured, prompting Sans to look back at the kid with white dots instead of slits.

_You're the Judge, aren't you?  
So do your fucking job properly sans.  
_

Sans’ come to really dislike how the voice was practically correct ninety-percent of the time they've argued over things back and forth. Even now, as he finally paid his attention back to the kid's hasty fumble about from the empty air to the back of their backpack, he couldn't think of any counter-arguments that he could reput back to the voice when their voice certainly held only the truth. The kid in front of him was indeed, dustless. They weren't even equipped with that usual plastic toy knife he'd usually see them with whenever they came out of the Ruins all dusty with the remains of the monsters. Instead, they held a small dark brown twig within that bustling other hand of theirs, the only green leaf at the tip of it swaying back and forth towards the rhythm of the kid's backpack rummaging before dipping entirely with the whole stick, replaced by a familiar glistening bottle of red. 

Sans blinked, his eye socket emitting a loud clack as the child confidently presents a glass bottle of ketchup towards him with their chest puffed out. Sans stared blankly at them, shifting his eyelights from the bottle and to the kid's determined face several times before finally settling back onto his favourite pastime activity. He watched the thick, smooth liquid eye him back hungrily, its juicy sugar-infused tomato shake beckoning for him to come closer, take it away from the ghastly fleshy hands of a human-or was that just him? Sans blinked again, clearing his odd thoughts before continuing his stare once more. Focus.

Why would they pull out _ketchup_ of all things from their bag anyway? Why would they _even_ bring ketchup along with them down to the underground?? More cheat recovery food for battles? Perhaps, but the kid doesn't even have dust on them. So what, they just want to give it to him for free?? Sans eyed the ketchup once more with narrowed eyes, ignoring the smell of anxiousness creeping out again from the kid's fidget. The food could be a lie, a trick to fool him like he was trying to do so mere minutes ago before killing the kid, just like the cake was a lie. But unlike Portal, he could Check to see if it was fake or not, and so he did.

*** "Bottle of Ketchup (Deluxe Edition)" - Consistent 1HP healing for every KARMA per 30 seconds (30 sips max)**

***Enjoy it while it lasts ＼(^-^)／**

Sans tore their eyelights away from the bottle and stared flabbergasted at the nervous smile the child in front of him gave the skeleton.

Were..were they trying to bribe him with ketchup with their life??

_Ballsy._

Yes, thank you for the very helpful commentary. Sans truly appreciates the time he had spent listening to such wise words spoken out of literal air. Sans ignored their click of the tongue and religiously watch the bottle slowly move, his eyelights following it left to right and wherever the kid positioned the bottle at. He only snapped out of his trance when their giggle reached his non-existent eyes, causing him to turn away again with a frown and a twist in his brow. Damn, he shouldn't have skipped breakfast spaghetti this morning.

The kid continued to wave the seductive bottle of delicious goodness in front of them with a loud huff, shaking their still trapped hand and tilting their head with a cheeky grin, asking for the trade. Sans eye socket twitched, his frown turning tight against his cheeks at the kid's mischievousness. He was thinking about it, heeding the voice's words carefully and thought about giving them one last chance if the kid was really meant it, especially since they've specially brought down quality ketchup as an apology for him. He would've accepted the gift and back down just this once, but with that mischievous grin of theirs? He didn't think they were truly sincere about it at all. In fact, it looks like they're still playing around and weren't taking it seriously and Sans for one, dislike that very much. Sans scowled in return, squeezing his firm grasp harder and making the kid wince hard from pain. That's when the child realised their mistake, never tempt a person who doesn't fear death when they're the one trapped. Sans could smell their anxiousness creeping up against their body once again and tighten his grip even harder. The kid yelp in pain and frantically tried to pull their hand but to no avail, all they could do was to stare back into those dark pits of sockets as they took a step back, prompting Sans to take a step forward in turn.

With practised motions, Sans pulled his magic out once more and summon a big horned skull right above his head, disregarding the voice's bristle and charged up his laser. It was a fugacious moment between the two as they locked eye(light)s, the air swarming with electricity and whirling buzz of static energy. Time seemed to slow as they tried to read each other's expressions once more; Sans' sinister glee to the child's heated gaze, the atmosphere stifling beyond death for that split second before Sans roughly threw the kid towards the gate. The kid's whole body slammed into it, rattling the whole wooden structure with a loud bang. They let out a pained wheeze, crumbling down to the ground and turned their head back towards Sans, just in time to see him snap his fingers to let loose his blaster. The beam blasted with a loud scream, blinding the vicinity with its hot magma glow. The snow beneath it started to wither away at tremendous speed, vaporizing and cracking the ground from the laser's intense gravity pressure. The child shall disintegrate just as it did for the snow, that disgustingly red SOUL of theirs shall float and shatter away and plunge the world into another RESET. Another run where the child shall be ripped apart once again limb, by limb, with Sans' own skeletal hands once they stepped out of the Ruins.

At least, that was what was supposed to happen. Yet the world never churned, resisting Sans' fruitless attempt to forcibly rewind something he could never hope to control.

Spiked vines thick as the trunks of the pine trees covering the confrontation stood grand from the ground against the dispersing blast, charred and burnt from its nasty contact against the heated energy. It wiggled and twitched restlessly despite its visible missing chunks, aggressively blocking Sans' intended kill and protecting the defenceless human child leaning against the gate behind it.

"huh would you look at that, didn't think you'd show up here."

A grumble and a hiss came in response as the literal wall of veiny flesh tightened against itself, its decaying parts crumbling down a little into charcoal from the pressure before retreating back into the ground it's thoroughly destroyed in its haste to shield the laser away, revealing a dishevelled blob of hair sitting on the bridge in a daze, staring up at where the blaster was still hovering above menacingly. Their sweater shifted, and a familiar green vine slithered out to wrap around the kid's forearm, followed by yellow petals that popped out vibrantly from the top of the sweater's thick fabric to settle snugly against the child's shoulder. Flowey frowned, checking the child he held for any visible injuries and sighed, lightly tapping a smaller, smooth vine against their cheek twice like soft slaps of annoyance.

"Stars. See, this is why I can't leave you alone to do ANYTHING without me for one goddamn moment."

The child slowly blinked down at the flower and sheepishly smiled softly in return, patting his petals gently in a quiet apology. Flowey grumbled but nonetheless nuzzled back into their hand and then the kid's cheek in acceptance. The moment didn't last long however and Flowey drew back with a glower, snarling at the skeleton still standing where he was, amused yet perturbed at the interaction between the child and the plant. Could anyone blame him for staring? Who in their right mind would, if they had the same knowledge and experience as Sans did, really? A soulless maniac and a mass genocidal murderer, quite the ironic pair to be exchanging pleasantries and affection. It was definitely something he never imagined he'd see happening between the two in his lifetime. Even then, it was oddly fitting.

"And _you_ ," The flower spat. "What the fuck are you looking at, you stupid fucking piece of skeleton trash? Could you not be a paranoid fuck and act civilised for once?? Just take the goddamn disgusting bottle of ketchup Frisk's giving as a peace offering and let us be on our way."

" _wooww_ , big words for such a small weed. when did you learn how to be an adult?"

Flowey bared his own sets of sharp teeth at the walking bone comedian but Sans simply shrugged, head in the clouds over one simple syllable.

Frisk.

The flower had said it himself; _Frisk._ Not some other oddly named child or ' _Chara_ ' that the damn flower liked to call out to it whenever Sans followed it through New Home, or whatever that other _thing_ had liked to call itself ever once in a while.

_"I am 'Chara' yet you can also call me ̨̲̣̝̻̹͔̤̗̌͜Ὁ̴̸̵̸̡̧͙̯̤̻̱̬͚̬͕̠̦̫̤͇̬̬͉͚̾̊̽͊̍̍̑͛̈͛̓̆̑͊̿͘͝ν̴̴̸̶̡͙͎̮̳͔͓̦͓̜͍̓̆̒̈ο̶̸̸͍̈́͆̈́̂μ̶̷̴̶̵̧̡̗̬̙̩̣̯͓̳̣̦̞̘̰̆̐̄̓̇͂̈̃͋̊̾̀̎̆́͘̚͘͝͠α̶̸̸̮̹̘̝͒͑̄̅̃̀."  
_

Sans mentally shook that voice away.

Frisk... Of course, it was Frisk. Who else _could've_ befriended a homicidal asshole like Flowey (other than his brother), not get killed and get him all so _mushy_ for them? Damn, if he wasn't feeling as guilty as charged. Perhaps Sans might've accidentally overreacted to them..? The voice scoffed.

_Overreaction is an understatement. Didn't I tell you not to try killing them right off the bat?_

The voice did. And as reluctant as Sans was, he did follow through too-that is until the kid decided to mock him with the bottle. How could he continue on when the kid was still playing around with him? And if they weren't, then Sans doesn't understand what the hell was that coy mischief for.

_Flirting duh, what else was it supposed to be? The bee movie script?_

Sans blinked, staring at the two figures watching him back with wary gaze on the ground in front of him.

Right, Sans' forgotten. Frisk _loved_ to flirt a lot when they were running amok in the underground. Whenever they had the chance, they'd tease, wink and wiggle their eyebrow at anyone they could hit on, that gremlin of a rascal. That meant bothering his brother, Undyne, Alphys, Toriel and specifically one little funny skeleton man; Sans. And he'd like to play along with them too, shooting back his own quips and lines. Even then, it still didn't excuse their behaviour during such precarious time, this just wasn't the time to do that. The kid should've known that too if they knew so much about Sans. If Flowey knew all his pattern after watching him for countless of RESETS, then shouldn't Frisk know more from experiencing it first-hand multiple times? Sans turned away and sighed through his teeth, watching the cold vapour from his breath of air form and disappear into the vast still sea of the dark forest around them, running his mouth carelessly without a filter.

"you know, i _was_ willing to let you go," Sans picked at his phalanges, uninterested at where this conversation would go but spewed it out either way. "but after that provocation? i didn't think you wanted to live anymore."

Sans pocketed his hands and looked back at the kid, feeling quite content when they flinched away guiltily at where they sat pitifully. "i guess you just liked to screw around with me huh, kid?"

Did Sans feel bad? He does. He feels really, really bad for the sin he'll be committing in a bit, especially if the kid was truly Frisk. But Sans didn't know that, he couldn't. Even if Flowey was desperately calling that name Sans so wished was true, he couldn't confirm whether it was real or not. Because even if the kid's eyes may not be red, they weren't brown either. No, they were yellow like honey and dandelions, glowed like shimmering amber gems, something that even Frisk didn't have when they came down to the underground or played with the RESETS that they first played around with it. Sans couldn't tell if it was simply a trick the two were playing with him. And if it is the other thing trying to make a fool out of him? Well, there's no mercy then. Plus.. Frisk isn't really innocent either, a catalyst for the tragic that came along with their consequences. Shouldn't he teach them a lesson as well as a responsible adult that he was?

Dealing two birds with one stone, how great is that?

"really, i would've turned two blind sockets one last time for you but..heh," rolled his words, pressing on further as Sans rocked his heels back and forth in a slow yet familiar rhythm against his beating soul, warming up his blaster once more for another kill. "guess that didn't work out too well in your favour huh?"

Flowey growled ferociously in Frisk's steed, his vines brimming forth from underneath the kid's clothes and ground in thicker groups and layers to fend off another blaster attack.

"Why I otta-"

"SANS!"

All three beings jumped at the sudden new addition, snapping their heads towards the thumping storm marching towards them directly behind the gate they were having their standoff. Sans, Flowey and Frisk all glanced at each other for a split second before launching into their respective actions for survival; one attacking, the other defending and the last escaping.

Everything was a complete blur. Within seconds, thick and rigid vines shot up from both the ground and gaps of the bridge to form multiple layers of compact vegetation to fend off the blaster's disintegrating ray. It hit the curved dome of plantation with a loud resonating boom, melting its greens into reds and black as it shook both the surrounding trees and ground from the shockwave of the impact. The densely packed heat of energy gawed at the stubborn vines, the smell of burnt musk making the scrambling child scrunched their nose in distaste but nevertheless continued to fumble with the metal lock hindering their escape route, ketchup bottle forgotten and fallen off the bridge. With two bobby pins Frisk was lucky enough to have worn them bent and shaped, they quickly picked at the lock with shaky hands, all the while dodging both blue and white speared bones shooting up from the ground. Both Flowey and Frisk worked in unison and within another second or two, make a run out of the unlocked bars, rushing out the other side and through the welcomed snow as Flowey continued to block blow after blow from Sans' relentless bone shower while the two were on the move.

Sans cussed, quickly willing his magic to disperse when he realised he's lost his opportunity to eliminate the troublesome imp when he could see the quickly approaching red sunshine heading their way in a hurry, worry visibly etched hard on their teeth and brow. Sans sighed and slowly trudged through the gate and followed where the kid had stopped to pant and eye his approaching form, darting those eyes of theirs from him and his incoming brother, waiting to see whether they needed to run further (and closer) to the safety of Papyrus' presence. Sans gave them the stink eye but didn't do anything further, opting to focus his attention to his calling brother as he strolled to a stop a little ways from where Frisk stood, on guard with the Flower hissing at him. What a lucky bastard, perhaps Sans shouldn't have played with his food so much when they knew Papyrus was their only saving grace from his penetrating bones.

_Kinky._

_don't. take that out of context._

"sup, bro?"

"YOU KNOW WHAT 'SUP,' BROTHER!" Papyrus skitted to a halt in front of him, scooping Sans up into his hands and spun him in circles, fretting over every inch of his being for any dust and injury. Even Blacky came subtly out of his brother's scarf to check on him, wrapping around one of his ankles in quiet effort to show its concern and comfort before slinking back. "ARE YOU ALRIGHT SANS?? THE GROUND WAS SHAKING HARD AND I HEARD A LOUD _BOOM_ COMING FROM THE RUINS ALL THE WAY FROM OUR HOUSE! THE TOWN WAS PANICKING FOR YOUR SAFETY AND WE ALL THOUGHT IT WAS ANOTHER EARTHQUAKE AGAIN!"

Sans internally winced, he hadn't meant to cause any distress for his brother nor the town from his conflict.

"i'm fine paps, don't worry," Sans reassured, giving a slow wink towards his brother despite his discontented gaze. "you know me, always tryna find a good spot for a nice nap."

Papyrus made a noise of complaint, setting Sans unwittingly back onto the ground right beside Frisk and crouched down to meet his eye level, eye sockets narrowed suspiciously at his easy dismissal. "ARE YOU SURE BROTHER? YOU KNOW I CAN TELL WHETHER SOMETHING'S WRONG RIGHT? YOU SHOULDN'T LIE SANS, I THOUGHT WE TALKED ABOUT THIS BEFORE."

Sans sweats a little. He didn't need to be reminded of that one night he got so drunk over his non-existing ass at Grillbys and proceeded to sobbed his soul out to his brother of his woes.

Damn his brother for being so cool.

"i know, i know. im sorry. i'm okay though, really. but hey, look at this cool rock i found beside me."

Papyrus made another noise, standing straight again and pinching the bridge of his nasal bone in frustration.

"ROCK? SANS, THIS IS NO TIME TO-OH, OH. MY?? GOD??! IS-IS THAT A HUMAN???!???!!?! "

Papyrus' gaze finally drifted towards the cowering child standing beside Sans, awe at his discovery. Frisk simply gave him an awkwardly smile, shyly waving back towards the taller skeleton with shifty feet, much to Papyrus's delight and Sans' displeasure. Flowey gave their own greeting as well, grunting out a small sound acknowledgement towards his _best friend_ and brightening up the skeleton's day even further. He gasped in elevated delight, jumping in place. He was happy to see all three of his favourite things together and gave an award-winning smile towards them, eyes twinkling and blinding said trio. "FLOWEY'S HERE TOO!!"

Sans was the first one to recover, stunned from Papyrus' outwardly rapturous smile and simply shrugged, dragging his eyelights away from his squealing baby brother to deliberately bore a hole in Frisk with his glare.

"don't see one anywhere around here, just a monster with their flower."

"OH." Papyrus' shoulders sagged, alternating a blank stare between Frisk and Flowey for a good few seconds before blinking, straightening his back again and abruptly stomping into the snow with his red boots in response. A whine tore through his teeth.

"YOU CAN'T LIE TO ME SANS! THEY ARE IN FACT, A HUMAN AND FLOWEY!"

"hippity hoppity a monstrosity, not a human i see."

Sans rolled his shoulders and watch his adorable brother huff out a pout at him, crossing his arms defiantly against his chest and shifted his weight to one foot, tapping the other onto the snow, dissatisfied.

"SANS..."

Papyrus narrowed his eyesockets at him but Sans simply closed his eyes and raised his hands up in surrender, an easy smile on his face.

"alright, alright. if you say so paps, i believe you."

And Sans does, truly. It may be ridiculous but Papyrus' subconscious intuition had never failed to pinpoint just _what_ the kid was whenever the two encountered one another every single route the kid had generated on a whim time and time again. So if he brother couldn't perceive this kid in front of us to be a _monster_ , Sans could safely assume they wouldn't be an issue within this run, at least.

Sans didn't like taking advantage of Papyrus, he felt extremely guilty for doing so. Unfortunately, he didn't have a choice. It's either that, or obliterate them right in front of his brother and hell was he gonna scar his brother, even if he _was_ going to forget about either way. Plus, it wouldn't hurt to keep the kid alive a little longer this time round so his brother could smile a little longer right? No shame in that.

_Excuses, excuses._

Sans ignored the voice and shrugged again, giving his brother another soft and lazy smile. Papyrus grumbled but relented nonetheless, changing to a different pose to show off his dazzling flying scarf. So cool.

"WELL! IF YOU'RE DONE BOONDOGGLING SANS, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL GO AND TEND TO MY PUZZLES FOR THE HUMAN TO BE JAPED!" Papyrus nodded to himself, seemingly proud of himself before addressing his bother again.

"AS FOR YOU BROTHER! GOOD JOB," He gave Sans' skull a little pat. "..EVEN IF YOU HADN'T RECALIBRATED YOUR PUZZLES FOR 8 MONTHS-WHICH YOU REALLY SHOULD, BY THE WAY, YOU FINALLY CAPTURED A HUMAN!"

"daw bro, it wouldn't have been possible without your cool gate."

"IT IS A COOL GATE," Papyrus nodded again, messing with Sans' skull a little more before placing his gloved hand to his hips, patting his own skull in a job well done with the other.

"STILL! YOU FOUND THE HUMAN AND THAT MEANS A REWARD SHOULD BE IN ORDER! HERE-" Papyrus proceeded to pull out his gift from his scarf and present it to his older brother, thrusting it entirely into Sans' chest in eager enthusiasm. Sans faked wiping a tear and graciously took the present from Papyrus' hands, holding the odd cylinder shape out to get a better look at the....pickle..? Papyrus smiled. "-A PICKLE!"

Flowey snorted at the side while Sans ogled at the decently sized green vegetable in his hands, unsure whether he should be awed or not. He had to physically force himself to tear his eyelights from the odd prezzie he's received to look back at his oblivious happy brother, sockets crinkled a little and smile tense.

"..wow," Sans breathed. "where did you get such an amazing gift from bro?"

Papyrus shrugged.

"I DON'T KNOW," beamed Papyrus. "I JUST FOUND IT ON THE COFFEE TABLE WITH A NEW TEDDY BEAR ADDRESSED TO ME AND THOUGHT YOU WERE THE ONE THAT PLACED IT THERE AS A JOKE! BUT THE NOTE WITH IT SAID TO GIVE IT TO YOU IF YOU'VE BEEN GOOD AND CLEARLY, YOU HAVE! SO A PICKLE YOU WILL GET!"

Sans' eye socket twitched, ignoring the louder snigger coming from the damn flower and the even softer giggle from the kid at his side. Really? Out of all the times, right when he needed to take care of the two troubling hellions, the anomalies decided to show up and fuck with him for the day? He suppose he should be glad that the anomalies mainly try to screw around with him and not his brother, only sending good vibes and soft toys that till this day, Papyrus'll never seem to get rid of and only accumulate further throughout the years, piled and cleaned properly in a corner in his room and played with whenever he's free. Sans sighed inwardly, pros and cons he suppose.

"..thanks bro."

Satisfied, Sans watch Papyrus nod again and turned to interact with Frisk and Flowey, spewing out his usual spiel of knighting and friends before gazing back down to the pickle he's received-only to come face to face with a black, wet snout. Sans blinked in surprise, taking a step back to watch tea coloured fur dangling from the ground, struggling to bite down into the fermented cucumber with its maw. Its collar jingled, flashing its nametag as it tried hard to bite through the food with a scrunched expression. It whined long and needily, clawing at Sans' hands softly to gain some footing as it changed the position of its teeth to pierce through the vegetable.

"YOU!" Papyrus pointed to the small animal with big ears and wagging tail, an offended gasp rattling through his teeth as its cry caught the conversing party's attention. "FIRST MY ATTACKS AND NOW MY GIFT TO SANS?? CATCH THAT MEDDLING CANINE!"

The animal's ear flicked in response, snatching the whole pickle with a yelp and dropped down to the snow with a roll, sprinting away from the group with a high-pitched laugh and an angry screaming red skeleton in toll. "COME BACK HERE YOU ANNOYING MUTT!"

"it's a coyote paps, coyo _tea_! not the same white dog!" Sans called out, sending his brother off with his own shout.

"SHUT IT SANS!"

Papyrus hollered back in return, his stature turning smaller and smaller as he continued to chase the coyote in frustration. But before his figure completely disappeared into the horizon, he paused his pursue and turned back, cupping his teeth with his hands to amplify his voice even louder.

"HUMAN!" Frisk jumped. "PREPARE YOURSELF!! FOR HIGH JINKS! FOR LOW JINKS! DANGER, PUZZLES, CAPERS, JAPERS! BEING CAPTURED!!-AND ALL SORTS OF FUN ACTIVITIES. REFRESHMENTS WILL BE PROVIDED...SO CONTINUE, IF YOU DARE! NYEH HEH HEH HEH!!"

"I'LL SEE YOU LATER AGAIN TOO FLOWEY! MAKE SURE TO KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR THE HUMAN!" And with that, Sans, Frisk and Flowey were left standing around uncomfortably close to each other while they watched Papyrus wave at them happily before dashing away once more, hot on the coyote's tail for that pickle. Flowey immediately broke it with another snarl however, pulling Frisk away from Sans with his vines and pushing distance between the two. Sans simply lets them do so, gazing at them with animosity, yet disinterested eyelights.

"so," Sans began, slowly leading his empty hovering hands back into his pockets again, ignoring the forming sticky substance in his pocket popping up again (he still can't get over how disgustingly sticky the strawberry jam is) and lolled his head towards Frisk, eyelights staring them down with lidded sockets. "you got lucky kid, looks like you'll get to live a little longer."

Frisk looked down, fiddling with their fingers in a nervous tick before looking back up again, moving their hands to speak.

_'sans-'_

" _don't_ say anything that'll make me regret," Sans demanded, making Frisk falter and peer at him with desperate and pleading eyes but he was having none of it and snapped back harder. "i'll play along for now just for paps' sake. so leave now before i change my mind."

Frisk opened and closed their hands multiple times with a complicated expression, staring at Sans with conflicted eyes. They stood there awhile unsure what to do until Flowey growled out, agitated at Sans' shitty attitude.

"Why you-!"

Frisk placed a hand against Flowey's petals and shook their head, their glowing yellow eyes sad but shone with understanding-but for whom and what, Sans wasn't sure. Whether it's unfortunate or not, Flowey drooped with a sigh and turned away, curling around Frisk more securely and urged them to 'get a move on already'. Frisk relented, nodding. They gave Sans one more glance of hesitation before skittering away, heretofore producing another deluxe bottle of ketchup from their backpack and placing it down on the snow with a few simple hand sign.

_'I'm sorry.'_

Sans stayed silent, watching that brown bob disappear into that same horizon his brother has and sighed tiredly, looking back at the lone bottle of ketchup sitting in the snow.

"yeah well if you really were, we wouldn't be in this shitty situation in the first place, kid," Sans mumbled bitterly, taking out his jam soaked skeleton hands and glared at it like it dusted a child.

Sans could've done it, he could've ended everything once and for all but he had to mess that up too huh? He should've known that the kid had stupid mozzle too despite their ridiculous amount of karma. Now he didn't even have the choice to choose so with his brother finally involved with them. He just couldn't risk his brother's short happiness even if it was for the better.

Sans clutched his hands hard, watching the jam squeeze out of the gaps in his phalanges and drip down onto the ground like droplets of blood. He stared at its coloured splash against the snow, slowly freezing and diluting the deeper it buried into the frozen firn.

Sans'll play along, he'll play along if it meant the world for his brother alright. That doesn't mean he won't keep an extra close eye socket on the kid though. They may be deduced as 'safe' by his brother, and he trusted Papyrus on it but Sans didn't trust the kid themselves to not turn their back towards his brother, just like they did a couple of times in previous runs. What bothered him even more was Papyrus' odd shift in dialogue. It may have been subtle but Sans caught the fuse between the genocide and pacifist lines, and it made him feeling unsettlingly uneasy.

He couldn't exactly pinpoint why but he knew that even a neutral run wouldn't have offset his dialogue as such, especially a combination between two different and extremist lines of routes. He doubts the Flowey's appearance and Frisk's new features would've changed it either and the anomalies so far don't really correlate alongside with the timeline changes with so what..?

_Best keep an eye on that kid._

Right. No matter what it is, whether it's another anomaly to go with the rest of the pile, or another shitty game the kid has set up. Sans'll keep close and make sure Papyrus will forever be safe this time around, even if it means he'll have to fake a truce with Frisk, sacrifice himself over and over again, make a deal with the devil, he'll fake it till he'll make it. After all, you know what they say.

"keep your friends close,-"

_-and keep your enemies closer._

Sans hummed at the voice's whisper, grabbing the cooled bottle from the snow and turned, porting away in the opposite direction where Frisk had gone. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author: Bad boy _NO PICKLE_  
>  Beta reader: But-  
> Beta reader: It's my birthday  
> Author: Okay  
> Author: you get one pickle.  
> Beta reader: Thank you Author  
> Author: but sans doesn't get a pickle  
> Beta reader: Rip  
> Also Beta reader: Nom nom


End file.
